Don’t Expect Your Partner to Change

“No one can persuade another to change.  Each of us guards a gate of change that can only be opened from the inside.  We cannot open the gate of another,  either by argument or by emotional appeal.” –Marilyn Ferguson.   When we enter a relationship, we must accept the person as he or she is.  We should not commit to a relationship based upon what we think a person can become.  First of all, we do not know for sure that a person wants to change in the way that we would like him or her to change.  Second, even if a person wants to change, fundamental change can be quite difficult.  What you see is what you get.