There’s an old Assyrian proverb that says, “Tell me who your friends are, and I’ll tell you who you are”.
When I first heard this, the Independent Woman (cue Destiny’s Child) in me, fired up with all sorts of banter, like:
“Ain’t nobody gon’ break my stride”,
“It’s my party and I’ll cry if I want to”,
“I do what I want”,
“Its’ my life, and its now or never…”, etc., etc.
But as I pondered this whole notion of “friendly” influence, I realized that yep, I definitely share:
- The same excessive use of abbreviations…. as my friends
- The same love/hate relationship with Miley Cyrus…. as my friends
- The same desire to live on Bondi Beach and have weekly Sunday sessions at the Ivy Pool Club…. as my friends.
- And of course, the same idea of fun …. as my friends.
But surely the essence of my friend’s Dior fragrance (or is that mine?) has embedded itself a lot deeper than just into my new Kookai tank.
(P.S I know what you’re thinking, how many times can I person say the word ‘friend’ in a blog post – at this point its 8. This simply amplifies my point)
How much of ‘me’ is me, and how much is an amalgamation of the people around me, my friends?
Almost as deep as Barry White, hey.
But seriously, the aforesaid slice of wisdom from Assyria (which I have since learnt, was a pretty major Empire around 2,500 years before Jesus was born), is something we should all think about.
How different are you, to who you were 3 months, a semester, a year ago, as a result of those you surround yourself with?
What character traits, attitudes, beliefs, aspirations and quality of life are you extracting?
In no way am I suggesting that we unfriend everyone we know who doesn’t have Oprah-like generosity or Lance Armstrong-like ambition, that would be ridiculous. (If you have Oprah’s number though, throw it this way!)
I’m simply encouraging you to check out your best friends list, and ensure that it includes at least a few soldiers who will challenge, inspire, motivate and encourage you, just the they way you need to be.
Charlie ‘Tremendous’ Jones said: “You are the same today you’ll be in 5 years except for two things: the people you meet and the books you read”.
My encouragement of everyone to resist the nerdy stigma and get into books will be covered in a later post, so for now, just marinate in the thought that the people around you, are very, very important.
In light of this ‘friend’ theme, I thought it only appropriate to invite the very best of friends to the party. Enjoy.