Choosing your close friends is a serious business because the people you choose to associate closely with are the people you are most likely to emulate. I love the advice given by Gordon B. Hinckley on the importance of choosing your friends carefully:
“Choose your friends carefully. It is they who will lead you in one direction or the other. Everybody wants friends. Everybody needs friends. No one wishes to be without them. But never lose sight of the fact that it is your friends who will lead you along the paths that you will follow. While you should be friendly with all people, select with great care those whom you wish to have close to you. They will be your safeguards in situations where you may vacillate between choices, and you in turn may save them.”
I wouldn’t be the person I am today without the truly amazing friends I have in my life. My friends lift me up when I’m down, hold me accountable for doing what’s right, encourage me and inspire me, and set an example for me to follow. They also call me out when I need it and tell me to shape up when I’m slacking. But they just as quickly point out the good in me and help build me up. The most exceptional thing about my close friends is they are all people with strong values and good hearts that I look up to and would be proud to emulate.
Choose your close friends carefully. Make sure your close friends are people you can look up to for their integrity, their values, and their good hearts.
~Amy Rees Anderson (author of the book “What Awesome Looks Like: How To Excel in Business & Life” )
1 Comment
Great article! We sometimes fail to realize how important good friends are and that we get to chose who we allow to influence our lives! Next to my health I feel like my friends are the most important asset in my life!