Cynthetiq

Some of us have been here for many years now, in internet time it's probably several lifetimes. If you don't know TFP is in version 4.0, as part of it's own evolution it has changed each time eventually settling into what it is now, but still not settled. There is still growth happening and still growth to come. A wise doctor I know of stated, "I judged myself by my intentions, while the world was judging me by my actions." So while we can talk about wanting to grow, evolve, or change, it doesn't do any good until it actually happens.

For me, I thought I was a tolerant individual. I thought I had the patience of patience because everyone told me that I had alot of patience. Yet I find myself still frustrated by people who try my patience. I see it here in posts, I see it in me as I walk down the street. I used to actually skip over posts of members who's voices dissented and disagreed from my very own, who aggravated me and made me upset. But how is it growth if I didn't confront what it was? So over time, I started reading those members posts. I tried to understand just where they were coming from, and what it was about them or their posts that made me find it unacceptable. I found that it was something within me that was unacceptable. I needed to concentrate not so much on what needs to be changed in the world as on what needs to be changed in me and in my attitudes. With that I found that these people are not so different from me, but more like me than ever imagined. Now as I read their posts I've grown to expect them to challenge me and my perceptions of the world and how I understand it.

Simply put some basic growth for me has been to no longer ignore those people and posts that annoy me, but to accept them head on and see how they fit into my world and life. It doesn't mean that I don't fall back into old habits, but it is important that I recognize them.

So here is the question from the time you first logged onto here, how have you grown? What has happened to you to make that turn from thinking about change and actually changing?

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I don't care if you are black, white, purple, green, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, hippie, cop, bum, admin, user, English, Irish, French, Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Buddhist, Muslim, indian, cowboy, tall, short, fat, skinny, emo, punk, mod, rocker, straight, gay, lesbian, jock, nerd, geek, Democrat, Republican, Libertarian, Independent, driver, pedestrian, or bicyclist, either you're an asshole or you're not.