We're formed and changed by our experiences. More than any other factor, the things we live through are the building blocks of personality, character, values, temperament ... good or bad, easy or hard, and the people we're with, we're formed by it all.
Much of what we experience, especially early in life, is not our choice. Where we're born, the family in which we're raised, the early schools we attend; all are formative, and much of who we are in our early youth is beyond our control.
Then, life choices add to the mix, and we have the opportunity to shape who we are and to be changed at the very foundation. Experiences we choose, opportunities we accept, they each contribute to who we are on the inside.
The video here from Brazil is a striking illustration of how it works.
(click on the picture for the Youtube video episodes, or you can see the movie on Netflix)
If you've watched the movie (or all the episodes), you'll note that the experience has changed you a bit, changed your perspective, and inspired you to adjust your life, perhaps. It's a good influence, but it will wear off in a couple of days ... unless you reinforce it in yourself by the things you do next.
Note the possibility of becoming different by choice of experience. We're not changed by words, ours or anyone else's. We're changed by doing. That's the way it works.