Never limit yourself!!!

Never limit yourself because of others' limited imagination; never limit others because of your own limited imagination.
Mae Jemison, astronaut

So wise!!! I couldnt not agree more on this quote! Especially the second sentence.
I find myself often to be blamed because I often have preconceptions of the people that I first meet (simply because I am quite confident when it comes to reading peoples minds). I remember first time I said hi to my colleague that was going on parental leave, my first thought was "this guy looks like such a snob." It turns out that he is one of the most down to earth and easy-to-talk-to guy I have ever met as well as the most curious person that I have met, he is genuinly interested in new knowledge no matter topic. It was my mistake to judge him like that.

Second example is one of my better friends C. I started to know her since we were colleagues at my previous job at the Consulate. She was very difficult to comprehend because she seemed so serious and adultish all the time whereas I was loud and felt often misplaced at the Consulate (professionalim certainly does not come natural for me but is something that I have learnt through the jobs I have had). I even had problems with C initially because I thought that she was not interested in getting to know me because of my childiness. Turns out that after some time and space we became close friends, mostly because we both have a big passion for chocolate and I think that is how our friendship evolved. I often brought chocolate to work and that is how we started to talk more, thus knowing each other better. Imagine that such a little common interest such as chocolate can connect two people to become close friends.

Third example is with my boyfriend. First time I met him I thought that he was really arrogant and uninterested. He was one of those kind of people that I really dislike (you know those people that you try to initiate a convesation with but they are just emotionless and bring the conversation down simply because they are not interested in talking to you...). It's quite amazing that he is my boyfriend today considering the circumstances.

What I want to conclude is that there is always space (small or big) for new friendships. It's not about how much common interests you have but more about the mutual respect and curiosity you feel and have for each other :-)