Past behavior can’t guarantee future behavior but it can certainly be telling of future possibilities.

Resumes, interviews and tests are all tools organizations use to reduce the chance of hiring the wrong candidate. The screening process helps reduce the risk of a bad hire.

But when it comes to personal relationships, many people are willing to overlook a person’s past. Some say the past has no bearing on the future, the past is in the past and shouldn’t be used against someone or a person can change and set out on a new life path. Others say or think they can change any adverse tendencies of their loved one once they are married.

Perhaps all of the above can be true for any given case but I think that unless something monumental happens in a person’s life, a key shift in fundamental behavior is unlikely.

Without a major event or epiphany, where is the motivation to change the way one acts especially if they like who they are?

Knowing someone’s past can give you insight as to what might be in store for you if that person becomes a major part of your life. If you are considering hooking up with someone who has lead a life inconsistent with your morals or values, perhaps you should consider what your tolerance level is and what you will do in the event the undesirable trait rears its ugly head.

Don’t be naïve to think you can change someone just because you think that the circumstances in your life together are different or he is a changed man. Don’t be surprised if your efforts to change your man results in frustration and failure.

Take Sandra Bullock for example. Seemingly, she was naïve to think that her husband’s lifestyle behavior prior to their marriage would change once she married him. By not believing he could cheat on her, even though he had a “bad boy” image, lead her to truly be blindsided.

Sadly, she is not alone. Her highly publicized personal situation had many wondering why she was blindsided. Surely signs of cheating existed when cheating was so prevalent in her marriage.

So why then do some women turn a blind eye to her man’s previous promiscuous actions? Perhaps the desire to have the life, love and marriage one wants and needs supersedes intuition or reality. When the desire is high, we have the potential to fool ourselves or talk ourselves into just about anything.