“He who loses money, loses much; He who loses a friend, loses much more, He who loses faith, loses all.”–Eleanor Roosevelt
Friendship is so very important! We are not on this planet to be on our own and it is nice when we are able to have the pleasure of good
Friends are indeed important as they can be a real positive addition to our lives, but on the other hand, they can also be a reason for our lack of success as well. We are influenced a great deal through our associations, sometimes unknowingly, and they can lead to helping in our success or they can be the reason for our lack. It is so much more evident to us when it has to do with our teenage kids at school and we warn them to “not mix with the wrong crowd”. In certain circumstances it is real obvious what is not “the right crowd”, but there is a subtle crowd that may be less evident of being “wrong” .
Even as we have grown older and our urge to have “friends” tends to fade away, those who we “hang around” with can tend to lead to helping us or in some situations can tend to hinder us. It is important to sit back and to take stock of the crowd that you associate with to see in what way they have an influence over you. You may think that they have no influence over you at all as you are “your own person” and you can “stand on your own”. While this may be very true, it is also very true that when you spend a good part of your time around people who tend to be negative, speak doubt, have fears, it eventually wears on you, or at least it can pull you down. If you are around shallow personalities all of the time who want to just “chill” all of the time, it may be deadly for you to spend too much time with this type of person, because before you know it, you might just find yourself “chilling” till you freeze over!
We are rich or poor by association, because as the saying goes, no man is an island. We are influenced in one way or the other by the people who we surround ourselves with. A true friend will know when it is time to laugh, a time to cry, a time to play and a time to cease from playing. A true friend will tell you the truth about yourself even at the potential expense of your friendship, because a true friend wants you to be successful as much as you do.
It pays to stop once in a while and consider who you are “hanging” with to see if they are the right ones for you or not. They can still be your friends but you can control the time that you spend with that person to limit the influence they may have on you if you feel it is not helping you reach your life goals. And if you want to be a good friend, make the times that you are together with those you are close to a positive experience. Be there for them, share with them what you can contribute to help them, but let them choose for themselves what they might do with your “help”.
Friendship is wonderful! Friendship is important! But you need to choose your friends wisely! How do you feel about it?
