Daily Gratitude: When this says “don’t let them change who you are”, it means who you are deep down inside – your core values and beliefs. You need to hold on to them. However, I also believe that we should reassess those things (especially the beliefs) from time to time. The worst thing we can do is to blindly hold on to something when they’re are facts in front of us that show us that maybe it’s time to alter those beliefs. This is a somewhat silly example but it gets the point across. I’ve been around for so many years that I’ve seen the what seems like weekly change of opinion as to whether or not coffee is good for you or not. One week the researchers show that coffee will do x; the next it does y; and again in a month or so it does z. It shows facts. What we do with those facts is another story. Just because coffee does x and x is good, does that mean that coffee is good? Not necessarily. Coffee may also do a, and c which are bad. Does x outweigh the adverse effects of a, b, and c? These are things we have to look at and constantly reevaluate in our lives. Take some time and assess your biases. Do you dislike or criticize a category of people? Or even just make generalized statements about them? But then you develop a friendship with someone who objectively fits in that category. But surprisingly (or not so surprisingly), the list of detriments that you didn’t like about that category don’t apply to your friend. Why do you think that is? Perhaps it simply means that we should stop creating these categories and judging the abstract category. There are good people in “bad” categories and bad people in “good” categories. Maybe we should just get rid of the categories?? Take time to reassess your beliefs