each morning, i rise to grab my iphone, and look at any important emails i may have recieved. usually, the most important emails i get are from 1-800-flowers or tiffany and co. (yeah, i bought something there once, now they won’t stop sending me emails), selling their latest wares. but last friday, when i awoke from a slumber that started at 10pm the previous day, i was surprised to see a message from someone via facebook.

this message put a smile on my face, to say the least. it surprised me, shocked me even. it showed me i can be (and am often) wrong with my judgements about people, and that people can, and in fact, do change. we owed nothing more to each other than an occasional “hi” on the off-chance we ever ran into each other. it was a message that showed me civility and mutual respect is more than possible between two people that likely loathed each other for the better part of a year.

but mostly, it showed me that i can change. i didn’t fall into the same emotional response mechanisms. i didn’t close myself off, and didn’t apply the same judgement that i had applied for the last year. for the first time since then, i thought, “this isn’t a person trying to hurt you.” a month ago, i would have said, “this isn’t a person trying to hurt you anymore.”

and to me, THAT distinction shows that i’m learning.

i’ve got a long way to go before i apply that to everyone i know in my life.