Do You Really Know Them?

"I wonder how many people miss out on the chance to truly get to know someone because they assume they already know them. It may sound contradictory, but many individuals might meet someone during a holiday or a rare occasion and believe they know everything about them without trying to get to know them better. This could even happen within one's own family."

Since my diagnosis almost two years ago, I have undergone significant changes. In all fairness, I do live two hours from my family, but when I do see them, they talk to me like I am the undiagnosed kid I once was. I used to be really upset about it, but since I am finally regulated with my medication, I see that they don't know me at all. The fact that they don't take the time to know who I am today does hurt me, but I can move past what I can't control, something I couldn't do before we found the medications that work for me."I understand that it may not be comfortable for some people to hear or talk about my disorder and how long it took to be diagnosed. However, if you want to get to know the person I am today and not the person
I used to be, it's important that you hear those things."

It's common for children to become busy with their lives and not have enough time for their parents. However, they may still think that they know their parents well. The truth is that people change over time for various reasons, such as maturity or life events. If you don't spend time with someone and listen to them without judging, you might miss out on love, time, and friendship. These things become more valuable when the person is no longer around, and you might regret not having them in your life. 

I can see that this situation has made you wonder how many people behave like this. I believe that more people do this than we realize. My advice to others would be to make sure that you treat the people around you based on who they are today and not on who they used to be when you spent time with them in the past. Even if you see them every day, make sure you are not stuck in the past and see them for who they are now. This does not imply that they were bad before, it simply means that they have changed, and are not the same person they used to be.