My Wardrobe Door

I was looking at my wardrobe door the other night and it got me thinking…

When I reflect on my short time in adulthood, so far, it is bizarre to reflect on all the people who have served their purpose in my life, and I served mine in theirs’s.

Think co-workers you grow close with, but drift from once leaving that job.

Think friends made through mutual friends, or the family of your ex-boyfriend.

Think your ex-boyfriend himself.

Think the friends on your sports team you haven’t spoken to since you stopped playing.

Or, the ones you sat with, lunched with and group chatted with throughout Uni.

This continues throughout the entirety of our lives.

We pass through friendships as we pass through the many stages of living and we change and grow with each different influence they collectively create.

Looking back, it is easy to see why some people naturally faded from my life and I so willingly allowed them to.

That’s not to say they weren’t important.

Some people are meant to be by our side for a moment, some for a while and some… some are meant to be there for the whole damn ride.

I believe, we carry little pieces of each of them within us.

Whether it’s love or a lesson.

I have never been more satisfied with the person I am noticing myself become.

Because, after all, we become what we behold.

Yeah, we have our own beliefs, morals and values - but we are all, as much as we notice it or not, influenced - positively and negatively, minority and majorly - by the world around us, by social media, advertisements, trends and, I feel, most importantly, our family and friends.

As a kid, I stuck two big ugly stickers on my wardrobe door.

A few months later I tried to take them off but left behind large patches of sticky residue.

In my pre-teens, lazily, I took the 'Bonds' sticker off some new undies and lightly placed it on my wardrobe with the intention of putting in the bin after...

It sat there far longer than intended.

When I finally got around to ripping it off, it too, left behind the remnants of its existence.

Years passed of using my wardrobe every day and ignoring the evidence of my childhood mistakes as they lay in front of my face, years of intentions to try all the suggested concoctions to clean it off.

I just never did.

Since meeting my boyfriend I have quit the Uni course I constantly deferred, embraced my secret passion for writing, started a career in a job I love, saved more money than I have in my life, made healthier lifestyle choices, lost weight and, among so many other things, cleaned my wardrobe doors completely clean.

I love this as a metaphor for the influence he has had on my life.

He never asked me to clean my wardrobe doors, just like he never asked me to quit Uni, share my writing, get a new job, save money or lose weight.

Nor did he do any of those things for me; I did them! (Muscles emoji).

But, his presence and positive influence on my life gave me the confidence, motivation and drive to want more for myself than a dirty wardrobe door.

If you get what I mean…

The people we spend our time with have a big part in shaping and moulding us as individuals.

How are the people you’re surrounded by shaping and moulding you?