What do you believe?

I always prefer to believe the best of everybody, it saves so much trouble.
— Rudyard Kipling

I have to admit that I can be very naive at times. When first meeting someone, I try to give them the benefit of the doubt until I get to know them and can make a judgement call then. People in general are good, but sometimes the choices we make lead us down the wrong path. OK, there are some real psychos out there who do not have a good bone in their body, but I don't try and mingle with them. First impressions are usually right, but sometimes circumstances cause the first impression you receive from someone to not always be the right impression.

I have met many people over the years and I am pretty good at picking out who has a good heart and who does not always have good intentions. I recently got to spend time with someone whose first impression I had of them was totally different than how they came across this time. I am so glad that I took the time to get to know them better as I really enjoyed my time with them and I definitely appreciate who they are as a person now.

I remember in school getting to know all sorts of groups and cliques. I wanted to know what the person was really like, not what their public persona was. If I like a person, I will hang out with them, and if I don't like a person, I will have as little contact with them as possible. I made lots of great friends who may not have always fit in, but they were the best friends to have. You got to see the real them.

Don't be so quick to judge someone because you may be letting someone good get away.