One of my favorite quotes is, "show me your five closest friends, and I will show you your future." As an introvert, I tend to notice the patterns of peoples' lifestyle more quickly than others because I listen deeper in conversation. It is always interesting to notice how a persons thought process changes when they begin hanging out with new friends. The funniest part is, if you bring it up to them, the answer is usually, "No, I haven't changed. You are just looking too deeply into things." When in reality, they aren't looking deep enough into things. Who you surround yourself with shows the type of person you want to become.
When I was not satisfied with the direction my other friends were going, I prayed that I would get friends with big ambition to come into my life. I had to shut the door on some of my old friends. Through that experience, I learned It is okay to say goodbye to friends who were only supposed to be in your life for a chapter. It is your responsibility to make sure that you do not open the door again when things get lonely.
If you are in high school, it can be hard to shut doors on friends because you probably see them a lot. My senior year, I decided that graduation day would be more than just saying goodbye to high school. I made a pact with myself that I was saying goodbye to all the negative and toxic friends that had surrounded me throughout the years. As soon as I threw my cap in the air, my heart was at ease because I knew that it was the start of something new. I lost a lot of friends after that night, but God placed a dream inside of me that I started chasing so I did not grow weary in the that season of my life. Fast forward to my sophomore year of college, and I am the happiest I have been, and I have lots of stellar friends around me. I strongly encourage you to pray that the Lord will help you remove all your friendships that are not pushing you closer to Him. You may not lose any friends, or you may lose them all, but you can trust that He will answer every prayer 10x greater than anything you can imagine and place the right people in your life. He will put some amazing people in your life, if you let Him. Have faith, be kind, and trust God in the season He has you in.
