Reflections on Booker T. Washington's Words

"Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than to be in bad company."

Booker T. Washington's words echoed through my mind this morning as I pulled up to the high school for a team meeting with my boys.  Understandably so, especially in this day and age of social media, one can easily confuse "friends" for pictures and wall posts, and "friends" for people they associate with out of convenience, not out of choice.  Friendship, association, and relationships are choices.  

Why do we spend time with those that do nothing but bring us to the lowly depths of their despair? It has been said that winners bring reality up to their vision, while losers bring their vision down to reality.  If your vision exceeds the scope of your current reality, are your "friends" helping you achieve the aforementioned winning mentality, or are they bringing their reality to you and forcing it upon you?  Which one are you for others, a vision catalyst or a reality drone?

Associations create perceptions of one's reality...and whether or not one truly is a certain way is irrelevant: your choice to associate with certain people is a reflection squarely upon you.  Your choice to float through life associating with negative and toxic people is a reflection squarely upon you.  That's a heavy burden for most people to face, especially because it involves sacrifice.  You have to sacrifice what is comfortable and convenient to break the chains that hold you back from your inevitable success.  

Part of developing a winning mindset and attitude is surrounding oneself with people who are determined to develop their own winning mindset. Free yourself from the vice that is your current relationships with toxic people and realize, no--understand, that you have a choice to make.  You have a choice of whether to settle for a negative and dreary environment or to allow yourself to be an individual and develop those relationships in which you flourish.  

Reflect upon your "associations," and you'll find that bad company has a way of invading your every thought and decision making.  Finding the winning mentality within each of us begins and ends with the thoughts we control.  Eliminate the distraction of bad company and use the positive associations you have already made (they are there, I promise) to help lift you into a new realm of living.

AR