It is far better to be alone, than to be in bad company." George Washington penned that one. And to some extent he had a point. But then I started thinking, who decides who is bad company? If he has met these people and deemed them "bad company" then he is correct. Instead, if he decides not to be around certain people because his friends don't really like them, then he is a fool.
Always decide for yourself who is good or bad company. I have met many people over the years who were not liked by some people. Oftentimes, I find out later that the person in question is quite nice and that the real reason they were not liked by the other was because of something that other person had done that the "bad person" had spoken out against. Everyone has their good and bad qualities. And no one is going to like all of the qualities of all people. Part of being an adult is choosing what qualities are inexcusable and what qualities can be overlooked. For me, I have a simple rule. I want my friends and confidants to be trustworthy. I do not want to have to wonder if they are going to twist my words to either embarrass me or to hurt another person. I also do not want to have to feel that I have to check the silverware after one of my friends leave. Other qualities I look for in my friends is that they have a good sense of humor, and that they are genuinely good people. By this I mean that they are more likely to go out of their way to help someone rather than to hurt them. I do not like drama in my life. Since that is the case, I look to distance myself from those that surround themselves with drama. Now, there is a difference between troubles and drama. A spouse getting sick, or having a car accident or something like that is a trouble. The ones I try to avoid are the people who are always fighting with people, and then either talking bad about them to other people, or constantly writing bad things about them on social media. It is these people I try to avoid. I mean really, life is too short to constantly be pulled into other people's cat fights. When I find that someone is a drama queen, I go out of my way to not get involved. While I may stay friends with them on Facebook, and still talk civilly to them if I run into them, I don't go out of my way to set up outings with them. As Washington said, it is better to be alone than to be in bad company. All said, I try to surround myself with positive people. People who have interests similar to my own, yet also have interests away from mine to add a little spice to our meet ups. Nowadays, I work from home and I do not get out much any more. When I do, I want it to be around positive people. People I can trust and who can make me laugh. Not everyone fits that description. And in turn, I am sure that I do not fit the description for many people either. A single father who doesn't drink or watch TV and could care less about the local sports team may be a tough sell for many. Still, the friends I have I trust completely, and I have many acquaintances who could easily become friends if we just made the time to meet up. This is your life...Choose your friends wisely. What qualities do you look for in your friends? And what do you look to avoid?
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