You Are Who They Are

A friend of mine forwarded me this email. I read it, and it really stirred up something in me. I'd like to share it:

"It Is Better To Be Alone, Than In The Wrong Company"

Tell me who your best friends are, and I will tell you who you are. If you run with wolves, you will learn how to howl. But, if you Associate with eagles, you will learn how to soar to great heights. "A mirror reflects a man's face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses." The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you closely associate - for the good and The bad.

The less you associate with some people, the more your life will improve. Any time you tolerate mediocrity in others, it increases your mediocrity. An important attribute in successful people is their impatience with negative thinking and negative acting people. As you grow, your associates will change. Some of your friends will not want you to go on. They will want you to stay where they are. Friends that don't help you climb will want you to crawl. Your friends will stretch your vision or choke your dream. Those that don't increase you will eventually decrease you. Consider this:

* Never receive counsel from unproductive people.

* Never discuss your problems with someone incapable of contributing to the solution, because those who never succeed themselves are always first to tell you how. Not everyone has a right to speak into your life. You are certain to get the worst of the bargain when you exchange ideas with the wrong person.

* Don't follow anyone who's not going anywhere. With some people you spend an evening: with others you invest it.

* Be careful where you stop to inquire for directions along the road of life.

* Wise is the person who fortifies his life with the right friendships.
__________

It is very wise council, yet at the same time, it feels heartless. I don't have friends for what they can do for me and my life!!! Yet, at the same time, I have found myself having to guard myself from 'friends' who could bring me down.

Where does one draw the line? When does it start feeling selfish to only surround yourself with people who are successful or who have perfect lives? Because, truthfully, who has a perfect career, a perfect relationship, a perfect walk with God? I'd have no friends, and to be honest, I doubt I'd be anyone's friend following the above advice.

I love comics, and the below comic was in the Sunday paper. If it is too small, click on the picture to enlarge it.

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I've had friends that have felt like rat in the comic. I hope I've lived and learned enough during my lifetime to have limited my association with people who act like that. But, also, I hope that I'll never act like rat, or have acted like rat.

I'm not meaning this post to be negative...the above council is truly good council that has stuck in my mind since receiving it yesterday. I'll just have to figure out how I want to implement it in my life.

But for now, I don't want any of my friends to think I'm talking about you. I thank God each day for the love and support I receive from all my friends.

Any thoughts, oh blog readers??? When does one cut ties with friends? Under what circumstances do you ignore your friends' issues and hurts due to their effects on your own soul and life?

When is it considered selfish and when is it necessary for self-preservation???