How 10 years Can Change a Person

    When asked, am I the same person that I was 10 years ago? My answer is a definite no. Although I can say I really don't remember what my 8 year old self was like as I person, I can take the stories and memories from my childhood to know that I am quite different as a person today. When I was 8 years old I was still in the beginning of finding what hobbies that I liked and what made me happy. During my childhood my parents gave me a safe life and the opportunities for me to succeed. I knew from a young age that one of my passions was sports and that is something that has stayed with me through the last 10 years. 

    The side of me that has changed tremendously is my mental prospective. When I was 8 I had not yet been exposed to the real world and the problems that come with growing up. For me I did not develop into the person I am today until I went through situations that made me stronger. I had to change as a person in order to survive in the real world. In order to survive you need to be able to have self-confidence and self-love which is something that it took me a long time to find. Surviving isn't just the survival from other people but survival from yourself. As for memory I think that this shows that memories can be real and apparent. I don't have vivid memories from my childhood. my "memories" only come from the stories that I have heard from my family members. I really wish that I could make out my memories from specific ages but that is just not how my brain functions. I felt that as I have changed as a person throughout the past 10 years I have gained a sense of responsibility to only do things that make me happy as a person. The consequences of someone staying the same from age 8-18 is the fact that they never get to figure out what they want for themselves and what they don't. At age 8 most of your thoughts and feeling are developed from ones parents and it is not until later in life when you get to think for yourself. 

    When talking about this I think it is important to look at Perry's article, "A Dialog on Personal Identity and Immorality" and a point that he brings up in the article. The point that is brought up if that we as people are not a "body" but we are made up as a soul and a mind, This relates to this prompt as when we grow throughout our lives from who we were 10 years ago to now we have changed as people. However, our bodies are not what define us as people but it is our mind and soul that are growing. My soul is the same soul that was in the body of my 8 year old self. I believe that souls are ever changing and when we die our souls continue to be one in the atmosphere and can still develop and think. Age and growing up is a sign that ones body is getting older but as for our minds and soul the longer they are around the more knowledgeable they are becoming. No one is the same person that they were 10 years ago because our minds are ever growing and changing so that they can find the true aspects of wisdom.