Has this changed you?

My mentor of five years sat with me in the food court of Dapto Mall. We'd sat in the same place since we first began meeting together, and she'd walked with me through some of the darkest days of my life. She'd been there when I fell back into self harm in 2009, and sat with me in 2010 when I was kicked out of home - with no words except "you'll get through this. You're not alone.", and in 2011, she sat across from me and we sipped our coffees gingerly, laughing and talking and enjoying each other's company.

"You're different, Tamara." she told me, joy in her tone.
I laughed a little and tried to shrug it off, but she persisted.
"You're smiling, you're laughing, and you look healthy. You're different. What's changed?" she pressed.
My response was an awkward shrug and a small smile. "I did a boxing session this morning, I guess. It was at 5:30, but that meant I could get down here on time."

And it was then that she realised exactly how much in me had shifted - how I was not the same girl she'd spent so many years sitting across from. It was then that I realised how much I'd changed, too. Previously it was a struggle to get out of bed at all.

This has changed me.
I laugh more. I smile more. I work harder. I work faster. I run for fun. I play games. I take up challenges. I care more. I love more.

I'm different.
The woman who mentored me for five years noticed that morning, and daily, I need to make a choice to continue to be different or the old me will creep back in and I do not ever want to be her again.

Has this changed you?