“You're only going to be as good as the people you surround yourself with, so be brave enough to let go of those who keep weighing you down.”

Let me start off by saying, it's hard. Letting go of friends who no longer have a positive impact on you is very, very hard. You don't want to slowly become strangers because, at one point in time, you made so many fun and long lasting memories with these people. While the friendships were healthy for you then, not all friendships are meant to stick around. Some are just needed for a certain period of time. Coming to terms with this is the tricky part but following through will be worth it.

In high school and most definitely college, the people you call your “close friends” speak volumes about who you are as an individual, whether the friendship served you well or not. You come to realize (slowly, but surely) that growing up means losing friends no matter how the relationship may have served you at the time.

While you transition from high school to college and into the “real world,” you see how your friendships change. Some may sizzle out while others end by choice. You may think that your circle getting smaller is a bad thing, but that is not necessarily the case.

The friends you might need to let go of, could be the Reckless Partier, the Debbie Downer, or even the Passive Assh*le. Regardless, they are negative things that give a negative outlook on you and your life choices. You will likely see their true colors as you come to “cut them off,” but what an even better reason to move on and find new friendships that are worth while.

You are who you hang out with. My family pounded this into my head as a child growing up. If you're hanging out with people who are acting and doing things that you don't agree with, you are still going to be assumed as doing all the things they are. So ask yourself, why are you sticking around this friendship if you don't want to be known the way they are known? Silly, isn't it.

You can't change a person who doesn't see anything wrong with their actions. I'm the type of friend who doesn't give up on those I care deeply about. But, not always can you “fix” or change someone. As much as you know they aren't doing the right things or may be heading down the wrong path you can't help them if they don't want to be helped. For me, this was the hardest lesson to learn in a friendship. You have to realize that you can only try for so long until it starts to become toxic to you and your well being.

It's heart wrenching to know that pictures never change but the people in them do. How your best friends can turn into your worst enemies and your worst enemies can turn into your best friends. Crazy, right? Even though you know someone isn't good for you anymore, it hurts just the same. Watching a friendship go bad is worse than an ugly break up. They were there for you, they saw you at your ugliest and stood by you through the pain. But like I said, people change and you learning to let go will be a valuable lesson that you will learn to use time and time again.

Although it's something no one wants to believe, people are temporary. Most of them don't stay forever. But you will find a few that do and, when that happens, treat them like a treasure.

“We do ourselves a tremendous favor by letting go of those who poison our spirit.”