Life’s short … choose friends you truly want to hang out with

Do you ever have these types of friends? Ones who drag you down when you want them to be happy for you…. Ones who out of the blue tell you you look older than you really are… ones who don’t think you’re good enough, let alone support you? If you do, then what are you doing still hanging out with them? J

I have some people who I used to call friends. They didn’t care whether their words hurt me or not. Worse, sometimes they hid behind the pretense of doing or saying those ‘for my own good’. Well let me tell you that I didn’t feel any better because they said it.

I once was feeling this horrible back pain, when suddenly a ‘friend’ of mine said , ‘Well, it’s because you’re too fat’. My response was, ‘Huh?’. Did she really… really think that I needed that kind of comment when I was feeling like breaking in two? That’s an example.

Another example is when one sunny and glorious morning, another ‘friend’ of mine, who, by the way, is older than me, said, ‘You know.. One of our students said that you look older than me.’ Followed by, maybe what she thought, a cute and girlish giggle.. Another intelligent and witty response coming out of my mouth was ,’Huh?’

Well, okay, it’s not THAT witty, but Huh? Can you ever think of a single occasion when that kind of remark is needed? Maybe… as retaliation for if I said that she looked more horrible, or more unintelligent, or basically less human than I was… but still that was just a maybe…

So you may wonder why I still want to be surrounded by that kind of people. Well I don’t. I was thrown in that kind of situation because the universe was conspiring against, or should I say, being an optimist as myself, trying to make me a better person… I guess.. 

Thus, the title above. Life is too short to be surrounded by people who make you feel fat, old, and angry. Be surrounded by people who support you and who make you feel good. How, you may ask, as you can’t choose the place or situations where those people are going to be around. Then, choose! I definitely can’t avoid meeting those types of people, but I CAN choose the people I want to hang out with. From now on, I’m going to spend more time with people who can accept me as I am and who can support me throughout my back pain.. Just as soon as I can think of a witty response to get even to that person..

Key vocabulary:

Drag (v)                                   : to pull something or someone somewhere

Let alone (phrase)                     : used to emphasize that something is more impossible than another thing

Remark (n)                               : something that you say

Retaliate / Get even (v) : to do something bad you to someone because they have done something bad to you

Surrounded by                          : to have a lot of people or things near you

          

Word count 523 words