I Changed My Mind.

Writing to a young friend on facebook, I said one thing about growing older is that if you stay open you find yourself changing and evolving. So many opinions I firmly held, got dropped or changed when they were actually tried. Or when circumstances put my beliefs on the line.
Government and taxes became more than an exciting, inspirational campaign when I got that first good check - with all those minuses.
My views on abortion shifted the moment I felt my baby move.
Raising children got a jolt of reality when I got a few of them.
Girls and boys being raised the same way was a theory that lasted about as long as it took Lizzy to stomp her foot and tell me "You hurt my feelings." (The boys and I just stared at her and wondered where that came from.)
No - absolutely No - on the boy-girl sleepovers after prom was a standard I didn't even realize had slipped until we'd had several at our house. Somehow, having them under our supervision was so appealing we changed our opinion without even blinking an eye.
Unless you have the HOPE scholarship you can't live on campus, faded from our vocabulary and we didn't even try to rationalize it. We'd just changed our minds. By that time we didn't need to rationalize or make excuses - we just realized we often made decisions and decrees with what we knew at the time. New knowledge, New Opinions.
When is it being wishy-washy and when is it being flexible? And is this realization of growth and change happening, the truth behind wisdom coming with age? I know I'm way more careful about making pronouncements about things which I have not experienced yet.
On the other hand, there are things I've tried and tested over my 48 years which have stood strong. Love always wins, Faith leads to peace, It could always be worse, and Smiling makes you feel better. I'll stand on those - unless I change my mind!