The advantage of surrounding yourself with positive people.....

[Guest]

This year will be the year of my high school reunion, though this post isn't really about that. Basically I realized it'd been ten years since I was in high school, and last saturday I went to party with lots of the people I grew up with and went to hs with. A lot of them I hadn't seen in 8-9 years, while others I've kept in contact with on and off throughout the years.

I was pretty friendless throughout high school, but for some reason I made a lot of friendships my senior year of high school, some of which have been long-lasting and close. Others, not so much so. Basically, I was at the bottom of the food chain with this circle of friends. There's one in every group, the guy all the others pick on constantly, even though presumably they still love him. In a way, hanging around this guy makes the rest of the group feel better about themselves. When you add girls into the equation, things get even more rough. How can you compete with all the guys who are constantly picking on you?

I realize that when I made all these firends my senior year, I thought it was something of a miracle, never having had cool friends to begin with. I think the reason why I took a lot of the abuse is because I didn't think I could ever make other friends.

So back to Saturday night. I brought a beautiful date (something that would have NEVER happened back in the day) and showed up to the party. Here's what I noticed. The people I hadn't seen in the longest were the most civil, nicest. That part of their lives was so far behind them, they didn't need to assume the old high school "alpha" frame. I was on even footing with these people. Meanwhile some of the people whom I had seen since within the 10 year period, they wanted to assume these old roles again, with me as the communal punching bag. Only now it was easier to brush off their comments and ignore them. I kept a strong frame in front of my date at all time. I was proud of myself.

One of the dickheads trying to re-live high school, I know for a fact is pretty bitter about his life right now. Anyway, at the end of the night he really wanted to hang out this week, and we exchanged numbers. His first text message, was a (perhaps playful) text message making fun of me. Maybe I'm overreacting, but I felt this guy was trying to throw me back into the nerdy high school frame. So I just ignored him. Why should I hang out with someone who doesn't know how to treat me decently?

I felt really good about this because 10 years ago, it would've never happened. As it is now, I don't really depend on anyone. I know how to make friends when I need to, and I'm constantly meeting new people. When I recieved that text, I was with friends I'd made in the last couple of years. These are people I would consider positive influences. They treat me on even keel with them, and some of them even look up to me. They want me to succeed, and don't try to compete with me. And I'm not just talking about girls but life itself. They wish the best for me, and I wish the best for them. Everything's reciprocal. I'm really blessed to be where I am today, and wish I only had the confidence to seek out such amazing people ten years ago.

If you have people influencing you negatively in your life, you really need to cut them off as soon as possible, and go find new friends. A happy life awaits!

[Guest]

Awesome... can't wait for my 20 year reunion next year (yeah, i'm old) ;)