Your friends can build you up or destroy you. The peace and prosperity you enjoy in life can directly be attributed to the circle of friends and their worth Read this article that will help you create a worthy circle of friends that will elevate you.
“Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are” is a well-known proverb. Friendship being a very critical element in the adolescent developmental process the quality or type of friends we have is of critical importance. Since friendships are based on shared values and interests it is only natural that friends will be alike. They will have the same likes and dislikes. If you have good friends you will also become good. If you have bad friends you can also become bad in course of time through regular exposure to them.
Advt
“Tell me who your friends are and I will tell you who you are”
A Popular Proverb
When you meet a person for the first time you will not know whether he is a good or bad influence on you. We cannot judge or assess a person from first impression or appearance. Only contact with the person will reveal his true self. But there are certain external qualities to look for in a potential friend.
A friend should respect authorities like teachers and parents. He should be obedient to them.
A friend should be committed to his studies or duty. He should be diligent.
A friend should be God-fearing and earnest about his religious duties. Such a person can be expected to have goodness of heart.
A friend should be free from bad habits like drinking, smoking, drugs, gambling etc.
A friend should be clean in his conversation and action free from vulgarity and indecency.
A friend should help you to become a better person.
“Integrity is your birthright and it is the foundation of good character and personality.”
Among the youth there are good ones and spoiled ones like a basket of apples or eggs. Some apples may be good and others rotten. Similarly some eggs will be good and others may be spoiled. Not everyone is qualified to be a friend especially a close friend. While we hate no one we choose our friends with care. Young people who have fallen into bad habits are likely to spoil others and initiate them into the same.
Bad friendships have ruined so many promising youth. It is better to have no friend at all than to have bad friends. In a school you can always find some who are good with whom you can cultivate friendship. Before you become close to anyone satisfy yourself that he has these qualities of a good friend. Since friendship means doing things to please our friends and sharing activities, if you have a bad friend you also will have to become bad to retain the friendship.
The moment you realize that a friend is of bad character and a bad influence the best thing to do is to give up that friendship whatever advantage you may have in that friendship and however painful it may be. It is not worth losing your integrity for the sake of some simple and small gain. Integrity is your birthright and it is the foundation of good character and personality. Above all that integrity leads to a holistic happiness.
