There is something that happens to you when you surround yourself with excellent people. They tend to expect and even demand excellence from you. How can you go wrong with that? The opposite is equally true. When you surround yourself with negative people you tend to begin to absorb that and immerse yourself in negativity. The biggest problem there, is that that same negativity will drive away the people who could have a positive impact. It all comes down to the choices we make, in our personal orchard. Anyone who has spent any time around trees knows that if you have a branch that isn't producing fruit, you have to cut it off, lest it kill the entire tree. This is a life principle as well. If you have read my writings, you know that I firmly believe that. You see, iron sharpens iron. It may seem like a bit of a played cliche, but it's an undeniable fact.
More importantly is your position, or as we called it in the Army, your "situational awareness". You have to be aware and beware of those in your life who have a tendency to wallow in misery. It's something that some people can't seem to live without. The saddest part is that they are so firmly entrenched in their misery, that they will sabotage their own happiness AND attempt the same with yours. When you start to stand up, they want to pull you back down. As the OTHER cliche goes, misery loves company.
All of this seems like rambling a bit. Chalk it up to me being tired. The bottom line is this. IF you want to succeed, surround yourself with successful people and emulate their habits. But for G-d's sake, get rid of the negative influences on your life, and demand excellence from YOURSELF!
It's all a choice.
"There are those who look for ways to succeed, and those who look for excuses NOT to."
- Sir Mixalot
Goodnight, you little bastards. I love you all
Lion Lindwedel