Can we change?

I was thinking today about how I'm not the person I was in my mother's womb.  I do believe our personalities are pretty much innate, but I know that for a fact  my personality has evolved over my many years.  Good, bad or otherwise.

I was extremely shy, as a child, with people I didn't know very well. I think I was pretty immature, too, thinking back on some of the choices I would make. Maybe you could say, I had a personality that just didn't seem to have much going for it in my youth. 

I remember one time, when I was 14, my mom wanted to give me a little social nudge.  The Rainbow girls were having a big dance that she really must have wanted to see me attend. She was friends with the British Consulate there in Panama and knew their son was home from boarding school for the holidays.  So she persuaded me to call and invite him to the dance.  I called and he said okay, he would go with me.

Mom had a dress custom made by a seamstress for me.  She must have thought that would turn her shy, awkward  daughter into a beautiful butterfly. I noticed right way, however, that the big,turquoise ovals on the fabric went one way on one side of the skirt and the other way on the other side.  Even I  noticed that and there was no way to cover it up, either. I was starting out with one point against me.  I looked like I was wearing a clown suit.

Anyway, my dad drove me to the boy's house the evening of the big dance.  When I went to his door, everyone was surprised.  Even the boy.  He didn't know anything about my call or the dance.  Apparently, I had gotten a wrong number and the guy on the other end had just said anything to get me off the phone.  The boy's family was having some big dinner, but they still made him come with me.

So we didn't say one word to each other in the car going or on the way home.  It wasn't much better at the dance.  We just sat and looked at the people around us having a good time. The only one more miserable than I, was the boy, obviously.

So, where was I going with this example?  Just to show how much my personality has changed since that night. People who know me now would never believe it.  Now, most people wonder," how do you shut that woman up, she has an opinion about everything!"  I was born shy and inept, but that didn't mean I had to spend my life that way. I would have never recognized the person I am today, back then.

I know I'm not speaking for everyone.  Most people come out of the womb in a lot better shape personality wise than I did, I'm sure.  Back then I didn't know I had a choice.  Now I do.  Your personality may be innate, but you don't have to keep it for a lifetime.