Don't always listen to what others say

Sometimes before we get to know a person, there is always someone who wants to tell you what they think of them. I use to

allow the opinions of others to affect how I felt about another person only because I didn't take the chance to get to know them myself. I never really understood the importance of making time to get to know someone yourself until someone turns it around on you. I am saying that there was once a time that someone listened to what someone else had to say about me and didn't take the chance to get to know me. It's crazy, but that situation hurt my feelings. People are always going to tell their side of a story, but they like to leave out parts as to why you did or said what you said. People bring different things out of different people. I think that yes you can take into consideration someone's thoughts about someone, but you should never let what someone told you to define who that person is. It's very possible that the person telling you about them is jealous because they've changed their life around, so they bring up old habits they've had. People don't understand if you aren't frequently in a person's life then you don't know them. Each time you wake up in the morning you are given the opportunity to change your way of living and thinking. You have a chance to be better. I think it's so important to give people the same amount of opportunities you would want and also how vital it is to treat others the same way you want to be treated. Be careful not to let what others say about someone else to define them. You should get to know them, and whatever you get from them then that's what you take. Give people the same respect you would want.