By Vic Odarve
Bad friends do influence your life negatively. They can alter your
view of the world by changing our perception and turning you into a different
person; bring a
tremendous change to your characters, lifestyles, manners, and actions, and destroy
your life.
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| Friends influence study on our lessons |
While you seek friends for support and
encouragement during bad times; find enrichment and guidance in your life’s
journey and enlightenment of your soul; bad friends can alter your view of the
world, change the way how you look up things in life, and develop you into a
different person. Unknowingly you meet bad friends usually in social
gatherings. People in upper class of our society usually meet bad friends in parties,
religious and civic organizations, political acquaintances, and other forms of activities
among society’s bigwigs.
Influence from bad friends is powerful. It is
more serious to the people who live in the upper echelon of our society. Take
the case of Ruby; a beautiful woman at early 50’s, established her name by making
friends, and held important positions among the social organizations. With her
friends, she found a connection to influential lawmakers; amassed wealth and became
famous; and acted as conduit to a graft and corruption. Aware of her impending
arrest from government for her role, she left the country without any traces. But
things go differently for her. She was troubled. She could not sleep and eat
well. Few months later, she returned as government witness on a pork barrel scandal
that implicated several senators and other famous personalities. Being haunted
by her own conscience and why she turned as government witness against her
former friends, she concluded by saying, “I don’t want to die with 80 million
countrymen hating me. I don’t want my grandchildren being ashamed of me so I
felt I have to do something and I have to correct my mistake and I can’t
possibly right a wrong with another wrong”. That’s it. She regretted what she
had done. Bad friends influenced and eventually ruined her life.
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| Mathematics Class |
Bad friends also bring a tremendous change to your behavior, lifestyles,
manners, and actions. By keeping in company and hanging around with bad
friends in your work areas, offices, meetings, and other functions, you are
strongly connected with their common objectives, likes, and point of views, and
gossiping activities. You could not feel and sense the threat at the beginning because
slowly and slowly you are engulfing to emulate your bad friend’s way of living in
one way or another. Some of the effects are extremely disastrous to your
future. You do not know that your
constant companionship with these bad friends seems to program your way
of thinking and develops into a habit.
Negative influence from bad friends knows no
boundaries. Even a short time in company, the influence is great. It can change
the world! Imagine what happened to the daughter of newspaper magnate and
publisher Randolph Hearst. The kidnapped Patricia Hearst, his 19-year-old
daughter, after 3 month long in company with kidnappers, became friends and
converted herself a member of the terrorist organization. She sympathized of
the cause of Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) and participated willingly in the
bank robbery. Just a short period of friendship, the daughter of a wealthy and
famous family became a robber. It ruined her life!
The same thing happened
to once a shy and religious friend of mine. In one of the invitation for a
dinner, he was seen lifting a red wine to his bag secretly; drinking too much,
talking negatively about other people in excess, and doing some illegal
activities. These lifestyles were developed gradually from his constant company
from his bad friends. He slowly and slowly adopted similar interests and behavior
from his friends. Birds of feathers spent time together! Bad friends ruined his
life!
There are many ways to avoid falling to bad
friends. Look, associate, and surround yourself only with friends that give with positive
influence; hang only to those that are supporting and enhancing your life; and
filter their background and stick to one with the same mission and ambitions in
your life.
Indeed, bad friends negatively influence your
life far more powerful than you imagine. It can change your outlook in how you
perceive the world and behave you in darker side. By putting yourself in the
midst of bad friends, like Ruby on the pork barrel scam and Patricia Hearst on bank
robbery with kidnappers, you are inviting to a disaster. Bad friends, like a
giant black holes sitting quietly at the center of our Milky Way, are lurking for
someone impending for his own destruction. The bible puts it 2 Cor
6:14-15;
14Do not
make unsuitable covenants with those who do not believe: can justice walk with
wickedness? Or can light coexist with darkness, 15 and can
there be harmony between Christ and Satan? What union can there be between one
who believes and one who does not believe?
The choice to join bad friends is yours. After
all life is what you make it!
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