Are you changing or evolving? Know the difference here. #Day3

Imagine this. You have decided to catch up with your old friends whom you haven't met in ages. But what is that one thing that leaves you apprehensive? The most common responses that I can expect from you all would be:

"What if they have changed?"
"What if we have grown apart and our conversations won't match anymore?"
"What if we do not connect like we used to?"
And yes, it's totally normal! In fact, you can be almost sure that your friend must be sitting in their room having the same fears. But, why do we fear change so much? I mean, do changes always have to be for the worse?

Well before you presume this article to be something else, let me clarify. No, I am not going to lecture and make you feel guilty about having such feelings and apprehensions. In fact, this is just you and me trying to have a conversation pondering whether seeing someone change or finding a change in yourself is something you always have to be worried about. Maybe it isn't always.

As you might have read from the title, I have mentioned the word "Evolve" (No, not the biological term and I might be the last person who you will find talking about biology in the blog). So what is the difference between the two terms?

I have always felt like the phrase "changing ourselves" gives an implication that we are not good enough the way we are which is absolutely untrue and that is exactly why I feel we need another word.

It goes without saying that we all face some insecurities about ourselves in our lives - whether it be our nature, personality, physical features, our relationships with people, and so on. This is where we feel an impulse to change and work deliberately to cure our insecurities. But unfortunately, that cannot ever be the right way to escape from these insecurities but instead accepting ourselves the way we are is.

But of course, we want to grow, branch out and become the best versions of ourself. And as we continue to look at the world, look around and learn new concepts, experience new situations, we are bound to have different mindsets then we did earlier which makes it natural and not deliberate and hence much more authentic. This is where the word "evolve" comes into the picture. There could be things I had been thinking through one perspective which could be right but a look at the other perspectives could give me an insight into all the other ways things could be right too. The books I read, the movies I watch, the people I have surrounded myself with, all make a difference and we can't do much about those influences affecting the way we think - for the good or the bad.

I feel, all we need to do is open up our minds a little and be liberal to such changes and then decide in our heads whether it has been a good or a bad direction of evolving into instead of just closing our minds and bashing any change that we encounter in any person including our own selves.

Coming back to the situation I started this article with, if you have been dealing with any such apprehensions before meeting an old friend or due to any similar situation, let me assure you one thing - yes they absolutely are not the person they used to be before, and yes they have evolved - into something good or bad - which is something for you and for each of us to decide according to our own changing principles and perspectives.

What do think, have you evolved or have you tried to change yourself? Or maybe both? Tell me in the comments below!