Choose your friends wisely

“You will never soar with the eagles if you spend your time running around with a bunch of turkeys.”

Apple farmers know how delicious a bushel of apples can be. They also know how much damage one little worm can do to that bushel of apples. They know that the tiny worm doesn’t take a bite out of every apple in the bushel; it only has to find one. If an apple looks like someone’s been chewing on it, the farmer throws it out. By doing so, he gets rid of the bad apple along with the “chewer” (the worm).

Know any worms?

Just like a worm, one person with bad habits or one who is a bad influence can ruin a whole group of friends. And just like the worm, he or she works on one person at a time until that person, too, becomes a “bad apple”.

Be choosy about your friends. Do the people you hang out with reflect the best things about you? Do they represent your values? Do you have to stoop to be like them, or do they have to rise to be like you?

Don’t hang out with worms.