When do you stop being the old you and become the new you? How much change is needed to say that you've changed? When has a person truly changed?

It's been said that people never change. I've begun to discover that this may not necessarily be true. I've changed - I don't dress like I did, I don't have the same friends that I did, I've nearly stopped spending time on some things I used to love. I've forgotten old loves, got new ones, lost old friends, but gained new ones. Is the me of today the same as the me of yesterday?

But does it really matter? Are who you are today necessarily linked in any way to who you will be tomorrow, let alone who you were yesterday? I've personally abandoned a lot of things, replaced them with others, but as far as I'm concerned I'm still me. However, many of my friends may not be of the same opinion. Have you ever observed a person change so radically that you could look at them and not recognize them for the person they used to be?

Life is filled with changes, and one of the difficulties of life is learning to cope with them. But are there changes that just can't be overcome, can't be dealt with - can you change yourself without noticing and wake up in the morning to a face so foreign to you that you scare yourself? How much is too much?