There are friends and loves in life who help others, bringing the best
out of them. Then, there are those who bring out the worst in
people, encouraging them to do wrong. If someone truly cares about
you, they would not do that. The people who love you will not steer
you wrong or lead you down a destructive path.
For some, lying and misleading people is a means of exerting control
over them, to do their bidding. While others simply do not think of
how their negative conduct will impact others and that in itself
makes them a danger. Either way, a toxic friend or significant other
is bad news, because somewhere along the line it will rub off on
you. It's difficult to be around negativity and not absorb it. The
Bible says, "Bad company ruins good morals."
One of my family members, who works
in the legal system, recently told
me of a man he knows, whom he tried to encourage to get on the
straight and narrow path in life. My relative was concerned
regarding who the man viewed as a role model. He was so taken with a
dangerous public figure (whose innocent, sick mom my relative knew
and helped before she died) because said notorious figure was into
the fast life, with guns, drugs and loose women.
The man wanted to be like the public figure in question and acquired
an unlicensed gun, because he thought it was a good image. One day
last year, he was driving somewhere with a couple in his car and the police
pulled them over. The cop, doing his job, discovered the
unlicensed gun. Everyone in the car was arrested, as there has been
a push to remove unlicensed weapons from the streets of said region
of the world.
The couple were distraught, as they did not know their friend had a
weapon or that it was unlicensed. Thousands of dollars in legal fees
later and damage to their name, they were cleared of any crimes in
the case, but it was a harrowing and costly ordeal.
I see it in the entertainment
and sports industries, where some like
to hang out with lawbreaking bad men, branding it exciting and edgy,
believing it makes them cool and hard by association. But what
happens when they do unethical things and even lie to you, with the
aim of turning you against your family and true friends, in bids at
isolating and controlling you (or even using you to try to hurt and
exploit others). What happens when they do something you do not know
about that lands you in prison by association until the justice
system can hopefully sort out the mess. What happens if one day they
become jealous of you and turn a gun on you in a fit of rage.
People need to be careful, as having the wrong friends can cost you
everything you have worked
for in life at a moment's notice. Then
that association becomes toxic and a terrible liability you may not
be able to get away from in the public eye. You will be asked
strange and painful questions you cannot answer, stunned at where a
so-called friendship landed you. I do not write that to make people
paranoid or overly suspicious, but some of you are hanging out with
dangerous criminals, who pose a liability to your lives and careers.
In short, if you have good friends doing the right thing in life and
not trying to bring any negativity to yours, stick with them.
Chances are, if they knew you when you had very little, they will be
there with you in good times and bad. But beware of scheming new
friends, as they could be wolves in sheep's clothing, who go on to
cost you everything.
