You can talk to someone for five minutes and know exactly who they are. You can also be friends with someone for six years and have no idea who they really are. People are not defined by their past or miscellaneous facts like their sister’s dog’s name. People at their very core are defined by the way they consistently view and treat others around them. They can also change.

Take a chance on someone.

We all have a lot more in common than we like to admit. It’s easier to see ourselves as different, but at the end of the day, we all experience moments of pain and moments of joy to some degree. Everyone has their different experiences, but you can’t know someone until you allow yourself to be vulnerable. You have to take risks on people, because at the end of the day, everyone needs love in some form. It’s what makes us human.

Don’t hide yourself. Everyone says humans are complex, but I believe humans are quite simple when we look deep into our nature. You can say I’m wrong, but I believe we tend to overcomplicate our relationships with other people. Please be straightforward with everyone, because truth be told, people treat others in a way that reflects themselves. If someone mistreats you, that shows that something is not right within themselves. We can’t spend our whole life hiding away from people because of how we think they will react. We need to realize that everyone makes mistakes and has different beliefs, but any healthy person will understand that you are not perfect.

We all have our differences, but we all need respect.

For the sake of yourself and everyone else, don’t be the person who hides for years. Be your genuine self, your broken and honest self. Because the first step to self-improvement is acknowledging that you have a problem. We are all human, so treat everyone with humility. If everyone did that, this world would be a better place. You’d be surprised at how one choice can change your life. So don’t just survive in this world, live in it.