One of the hardest things to deal with is watching someone you have known and loved for a long period of time turn into somebody completely different. Unfortunately, this is quite a common occurrence, especially in teenage years due to the fact that everybody is still discovering who they really are. It’s typically nobody’s fault, but nonetheless, it still hurts when it happens.

With growth obviously comes change. It can be negative or positive change, but if negative, I  like to believe it’s a phase that the person has to go through to learn something. I definitely have phases that I’m not proud of, but they taught me a lot. When this happens, whether good or bad, you will lose people in the process. When experiencing a change, there are some people who won’t like your new behavior, and that’s OK. It does hurt on both sides, though, whether you’ve changed and they don’t like it or vice versa.

While it can be a good thing in the long run, watching someone you’re close to change in a negative way is very painful. Obviously you love and care for them, so you want the best for them, but you can’t stand the way they’re acting and how they’ve changed. You have to accept and come to terms with the fact that this is natural, and it’s OK if you don’t want them in your life at the given moment. If they’re meant to be in your life, you two will find your way back to each other; perhaps when the said negative behavior passes.

On the other hand, watching someone you love change in a positive way is exhilarating. I personally feel as though I am experiencing the emotions as if they are my own when somebody I love is changing for the good. Everyone has to go through things to learn lessons, and the process can be awful and ugly, so watching someone you care for come out at the end of it as a much improved version of themselves is an amazing feeling.

You naturally want the people you love to go down the right path and be the best version of themselves they can possibly be. To deal with negative changes in a friend, significant other, family member, etc., remind yourself that there is a great possibility that they will turn out improved in the end.