People don't change

Or do they?

Lately, I've been thinking about the old adage that pretty much affirms that we are all stuck in our own $%#@ and simply can't change.

I don't buy it. 

Not for one second.

While we may not be able to completely transform deeply ingrained aspects of our person, or personality, I think life is a lesson (or series of lessons) that can teach us a thing or two about ourselves and compel us to improve - for the better.

I think this is what Oprah would call an "Aha moment!"

What first got me thinking about this was a a dream I had about Nicole Richie (yes, you heard me right, I dream about celebrities - but only the ones I consider close friends). 

Ten years ago, she was pretty much a train wreck. 

mug shots

Nowadays, she's sober, married, has two kids, a clothing line, jewellery line, an online series, etc. (I think you get the point I'm trying to make.)  

And I absolutely adore her.

pageant shot

There's a scene in the movie Great Expectations, with Ethan Hawke and Gwyneth Paltrow, where Goop's character Estella states, point blank, "We are who were are, people don't change."

Bull$%#@

Just look at John R. "Johnny" Cash.

After watching Walk the Line last night, I came to the realization that love can sometimes be a huge catalyst for change. Years of druggin' and boozin' took their toll on Johnny Cash but, in the end, love took an even bigger toll.

After helping him get sober, June Carter spent 35 years with the man in black. They had a child together and when she died in 2003, he pretty much lost the will to live... and died four months later - of a broken heart.

So the next time somebody tells you people don't, or can't, change just think of Nicole Richie and Johnny Cash and remember that "lies only exist if we believe in them."