"It's necessary that you get the energy-drainers out of your life; people who don't want anything, people who are not striving, people who are not challenging themselves, people who aren't growing and who have stopped dreaming. It is necessary that you align yourself with others who are hungry, are unstoppable and are unreasonable and refuse to leave life just as it is and who want more."
- Les Brown, Motivational Speaker
It's a phrase used countless times today by people my age. "I need people in my life right now that are there for me no matter what. I need people who have my back in any situation." It is a powerful feeling to have this overwhelming support, knowing that someone will always by right by your side, but its questionable whether or not we as a generation know what a real person in their corner looks like.
We don't like opposition. We love to be right and love to surround ourselves with people who tell us that we are solid in our decision making and that we have no faults whatsoever. In turn, we cut ourselves off from friends and family who tell us differently. We strive so much to please everybody that I think we lose sight of what it means to be a real friend.
A lot of us have friends who will always agree with us, coddling us into a feeling of self-righteousness. How can that do any good if you and I are actually wrong in handling a situation or terrible when it comes to common sense and decision making?
A good example of this may be taken from watching the show, American Idol. Every season we watch as people with no musical talent whatsoever enter the competition with aspirations of being the next American Idol. After the judges tell the participant that he or she should stick to their day job and give up singing as a career move, the camera usually swings back outside to the waiting room where the parents and friends of the Idol-wannabe vehemently complain that their son or daughter has an exceptional voice and the judges criticism is not valid.
When people talk about having the right people in their lives, how can it be a good thing to be told that you are always right and that you are never wrong. A real friend will always be able to point you in the right direction instead of helping you to dig a deeper hole for yourself with no consequences and giving you a false sense of security. Whether it stemmed from school decisions, to bad relationships, I've always been grateful for the people who never been afraid to be brutally honest with me. If I am wrong, tell me that I'm wrong. Sugar-coating does no good at all.
I learned in my short life so far that a good friend genuinely cares about your soul and will stop at nothing to help you get to heaven, even if that means hurting our pride in the process. Let us pray for our friends and for the grace to be a true friend to all those we come in contact with, that we bring them closer to our heavenly Father.
