How much can we change from age 10?

     When I think of my life when I was 10 years old, I barely recognize myself. I have grown up, and I am nowhere near done growing (is anyone ever done?). My childhood was filled with love and I was lucky enough to grow up with a supportive, well-off family. However, I had issues that I had to deal with by myself. Between the time I was 10 and 18, I went through things that changed me as a person. I am certainly not the same person that I was at 10 years old, and I am grateful for that.

    Why did I change? I personally try not to point a finger at specific situations, but when people experience pain they always change. Throughout the years I have realized to accept these hardships as a blessing, because they make you stronger and better you as a person. They make up your identity. 

    But, this brings me to a problem with personal identity. If we change as a person, then are we responsible for our actions from the past? Are the "memories" that we have from our past self really our memories? Is this the reason for the apparent memories we have that really are just stories told to us? As I have learned, the answer is complex and can be argued both ways. There is no "right or wrong" answer, but my opinion is simple. We only have the memories of one person, we only know our own life. Personal identity lies within ourselves as individuals. Change is normal and I do not believe that our soul is recycled and we get a new one. If we never change or grow, we simply would not have an identity. Our experiences shape us into who we are. 

    It would be simple to say that we are the same exact person from the moment we are born to the moment we die. However this just is not the case. In John Perry's "A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality," a dying philosopher comments that if our personal identity is in our soul, we would not recognize ourselves (1978, 8). I agree with this statement due to the fact that souls are immaterial. How can an immaterial soul combine into a material body and change a person? I believe in the same body theory presented in Perry's dialogue. We may change our personality, and become different people, but our identity lies within our physical selves. 

Perry, John. "A Dialogue on Personal Identity and Immortality." 1978. PDF file.