People cannot offer you more than who they are.
Lately, I have come to appreciate that all friends are not the same and must not be treated the same. I read somewhere that Jesus had three kinds of people He dealt with. He had His favourite disciples in His inner circles who were Peter, James and John. The second group was the nine other disciples and lastly the third was the group of seventy He dealt with. His relationships with these groups of people were differently engaged.
Based on my dealings with people, I have come to conclusion that there are three broad categories of friends each of us cultivate along life’s journey. They are friends of the past, the present and the future.
Friends Of The Past.These friends always remind you of where you used to be in the past. They bring to memory the things you did in the past that you despise. One thing about these friends is that because they still live in the past, they try to bring you to their level. They are mostly school mates or ex lover or sibling. It’s good to remind yourself where you are coming from, but it doesn’t necessarily make you humble. I believe it will be better to move on without friends of the past.
Friends Of The Present. Whether you are successful or unsuccessful, friends of the present are people who will talk you to remain where you are now because it’s good for you. They believe there is a destination in life. They don’t take risk. Know this: People cannot offer you more than who they are. They think the job you have is enough to cater for you and your family whilst you may desire to take giant steps into the future. They think leaving your job to start a business is an unwise decision because you might fail. They measure your success based on where you are coming from not where you are going to. You should probably leave them behind as you move on.
Friends Of The Future. Friends of the future have two resounding traits: They are futuristic and risk takers. They do not doubt what you can achieve even with little qualifications. Because they are going somewhere in the future, they inspire you along. They measure your success based on where you are going to not based on where you are coming from or where you are now. These are the friends you should get along with. I have very few of them.
Believe it or not, you need people to succeed in life. You need friends to make your dream real. But you do not need too many friends to succeed. I have realized that the more I climb, the more I drop people in my life or they drop themselves. Make a deliberate effort to select who finally becomes your friend because every person you allow into your life will make a deposit whether bad or good. Choose wisely!
© 2012 Eric Otchere
(My mission is to build individual
and corporate capacities through
knowledge-based services.)
