There have been numerous occasions, especially with the rapid change I've been undergoing over the past year, that I'll be talking to someone I haven't seen in weeks or months, and they'll make an assumption about me - the me that they remember from our last interaction - and that assumption will be invalid. I was getting frustrated with this, so I wrote something for fun and to remind myself that we are ever changing:
“i am me
that much you know
but the me that you know
continues to grow
the me that you saw
last time we met
has changed in ways
you might never have guessed
every new moment
brings many new thoughts
each one a chance
to expand our world box
new lifetimes, old lifetimes
they come and they go
in just one short year
generations can show
the next time we talk
consider this fact
that I am no longer
the me from way back
the past is the past
the future, who knows
just ask me a question
and see where we go”
:-)
The nature of The Universe is impermanence. Everything that has a beginning has an ending, and not just on the macro scale. Every moment a new sensation, new feeling, new emotion, new action arises and then falls away the very next moment. We as human beings are not exempt from this universal nature. With every passing moment, we are different than we were during every preceding moment. Everything we see, feel, touch, think - every experience we have changes us from who we were to who we are to who we will be.
Whenever we interact with anyone we know, whether it's a acquaintance, lover, friend or foe, it's critical that we remember the nature of impermanence. Whatever story you have in your head about who someone is is, by definition, wrong. By keeping an open mind and open heart, we allow ourselves to see the Truth in every moment instead of the illusory projection of yesterday.