As a child, I was told numerous times to always choose my friends carefully and that the company you keep affects who you turn out to be.
At first, I used to think it was a bunch of crap, I just thought, I am who I am regardless of who I hang out with. The older I got the more I realized how important it is to choose the people you spend time with. I have seen perfectly smart boys become failures at school because they started hanging out with the wrong crowd. I've seen good girls become sluts because they started hanging out with sluts. The more you spend time with someone, the more they start to influence your way of thinking, and once your thoughts change, your actions change and that's it, you become more like them. You can always tell where someone is going just by looking at the people they spend most of their time with, the people they get advice from, the people they admire.
I have been in a situation where I was hanging out with people, and I could see myself changing and gradually becoming more and more like them. I eventually just..walked away.
In my efforts to sort of keep myself surrounded by good people, I realize I may have offended some. I have been called stuck-up or a snob countless times. Thing is, I don't mean to offend anyone. Don't you ever meet people and them from their words or actions, you just think "me and this person can't walk together"...
I've had friends with whom I constantly argued with because we just didn't not agree of life's issues. We had different values, different priorities, different definitions of "fun".
Does it mean I'm a snob, if I choose not to hang out with people that I consider..juvenile? or..bitchy...? Don't get me wrong, I talk to people. I don't dismiss people without giving them a chance. Unless of course, its one of those cases where I've heard so much about their "extra curricular activities" that I just don't want to go there..lol
I choose the company I keep. I don't look down on anybody. I just, choose my friends wisely coz I know how they'll influence me. Does that make a snob?
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Nope, it doesn't make you a snob at all.
ReplyDeleteI went through this same thing as you.
My old friends kept trying to control me, always getting mad at me whenever I didn't have time to spend with them. They expect me to inform them whenever I'm too busy to talk to them. I get tired of their controlling behaviors so I told them that I wanna be acquaintances instead of close friends with them because I feel very suffocated,
and they started insulting me, saying that I am so critical and stuff.
Anyway, I have learned a hard lesson from this.
I am going to be more choosy with my friends from now on.
This is what I get when I didn't choose my friends carefully, I ended up getting disrespected, controlled, and insulted.
So I'm gonna choose my friends more carefully from now on.
Thanks for your inspiring and uplifting post.
I totally identify with your post.
Happy New Year to you and have a wonderful day ahead! God Blessed! =)