Change

I don’t know about you, but I believe people can change. I remember well when my father, a sometimes ogre when I was young, morphed into a mentor. Much of the good and valuable had been there all along but overshadowed by what we would now term PTSD. The ongoing pull of two sinkings by torpedos, stressful wartime voyages, and other things never disappeared. Beaming sunshine never totally replaced the dark, but a new relationship built on the best of the old and new elements developed.

So, people change, and they deserve the chance to be evaluated in light of those changes. Some come right out with it and apologize. Others show it by behavior, rectifying mistakes. It may be a matter of individual personality or style and how the change shows in character, bearing, and actions.

Of course, the ability to change is there in most of us, but not all take it. What can I say about someone who fails to grasp it when it comes? A favorite quote from Muhammad Ali comes to mind, “A man who views the world the same at 50 as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.”