With new relationships come anxiety. Whether you’ve known the person for years, months, or days, your dynamic changes once you put an official label on it. And while labels are merely made up things to make other people understand your relationship, they still mean something. They mean commitment in whatever form you see fit. And once you commit to someone, you change. Relationships teach you a lot about yourself, what you want, and how you want to be treated. When it comes to others, you learn how to treat your SO and how to accept love.

There’s a lot riding on every relationship you enter. If you let the pressure get to you, your self-esteem could be riding on it too. So when you meet someone new, you feel the need to be accommodating. You feel the need to make sure that they have no reason to leave. You can easily fall into the trap of trying to become everything they’ve ever wanted. You might feign interest in their interests and become this altered version of your partner. It seems like a rather obvious statement to say that being yourself is the best option. But, what isn’t known is that it’s okay to grow and learn from someone. In fact, it's a part of growing up. Consider it one of life's many stages.

If Girl Meets World taught me anything, it’s that people change people. When you meet someone who likes activities that you’ve previously never tried or considered, it’s not a bad thing to go all in. The only reason you have your current interests is someone or something drove you to give them a shot. So who’s to say that your significant other isn’t into something that will change your life? People look down on those who “pretend to be someone else” while they’re with someone. Truth is we’re different for everyone we meet. There is no true version of ourselves because we constantly evolve to fit the mold of each new person. It’s perfectly acceptable to try new identities and allow yourself to explore different attributes. The toxicity comes when the curiosity ends and you start pretending to be someone for the sake of other people.

Allow other people to change you. It’s how we become the best version of ourselves. Whether we take a chance on someone good or give ourselves to someone bad, we come out stronger and more complete. I think that’s how we know we’re growing up. We become so much more of a person. Our emotional range becomes greater and we experience life more intensely. Every moment feels like something big is on the horizon and every person becomes something more.