Friends & their Influence

Friends & Their Influence

In lavish college life where everyone you meet speaks English with you, a student from vernacular medium like me would definitely face struggle to speak in English. Even though I had learnt English in school which made my language good; I've faced problem when it came to practicality. Just like everyone I was also counting days of college and was enjoying this new phase of life. But I was unable to gather courage to speak up in English because of the fear of mistakes. 

One day came when I met new friends who pushed me up to improve, who have always encouraged me to speak up & never made me feel little for my mistakes. Therefore I want to say that these people form an integral part in my development as a confident being.

This incident showed me that friends have the courage to influence you. It's up to you what you choose & how you take it. Therefore my new blog is about friendship and it's influence on oneself.

A friend in need is a friend indeed’: a famous quote which talks about the reality of friendship. This frequently used quote strikes a question in my mind, “Who is a friend?”

Can anyone define a friend?

According to me a friend is one who gives you happiness, peace of mind, care, satisfaction whenever needed. In simple words we feel comfortable with friends. This shows that having friends is a blessing...it’s a kind of treasure which contents us. But at the same time this treasure indirectly examines us. In other words it becomes a reason of caution for you. Because the world experiences the rule of a coin having two sides in all spheres of life. Treasure of friendship is not an exception to it.

Someone has said, “As much as people refuse to believe it, the company you keep does have an impact & influence on your choices.”

It is true as people around us & people we are with are the ones who in way or the other influence you. Even a baby imitates the people around him & tries to be the same & behaves accordingly. Same happens in friendship where one tries to imitate others to fit in a particular group. Therefore the above mentioned quote becomes true.

A famous action hero Ram Charan in one of his films said, "Tell me about your friends, I'll tell about you." He is right as friends characterize one. Everyone is somehow influenced by their friends. One can feel good by spending quality time with their friend while one can even enjoy smoking with them. The choice is yours. That doesn't mean you shouldn't be friends with anyone. Rather I’d say you should have friends and they should influence you. Because they also play a key role in strengthening yourself. Ups & downs experienced with them make you learn & take lessons for future.

Therefore I would like to quote Dale Carnegie, who in his book ‘How to win friends & influence people’ said, “Don’t be afraid of enemies who attack you. Be afraid of friends who flatter you.”

Even a French proverb says, ‘Quand la pauvreté entre par la porte l'amour et l'amitié s'en vont par la fenêtre.’ This means in poverty friends and love go away. Hence it is your choice who you want to be with & what you want to be: a blind follower or a responsible being.

One finds friends in each stage of life. Each one of them teaches you something different. Therefore, friends are really good. It is up to us what to learn & what to ignore. Friendship is a relation which gives way to your freedom & helps you to be yourself. So you need to have friends who can influence you. It is because of friendship that Vilas Manohar decided to devote his life for a good cause of upbringing adivasis, who was influenced by Dr. Prakash Amte, a devoted social worker. It is because of the friends like books we’ve seen scholars like Swami Vivekananda, B. R. Ambedkar.

On a concluding note I would like to quote Dan Buettner who said, “The people you surround with influence your behaviours, so choose friends who have healthy habits.”