This is one of those topics very few want to discuss with a clear head. Who are or were the "bad influences" in your own life going as far back as you can remember? Some of us are living with our "bad influences" right now (our partner, our spouse, our parent(s), our "friend"(s), or some other individual we already know who is more "bad" for us than good...). Others of us ARE the "bad influence" in our own lives and in the lives of others and we know it. For purposes of today's blog post, I am going to limit this discussion to those who have one or more "bad influences" in their life and just don't think about "it" all that much....
Just today I was watching a portion of a movie entitled "Smashed" at the moment when a girl had just picked up a random stranded female in front of a bar who begged for a ride home. Once in the car together, the passenger asked if she could smoke. Turns out what the passenger began to smoke was a rock of crack. Because both driver and passenger were drunk, the passenger offered a hit off her pipe to the driver saying "This is amazing! You'll never be the same again!" In my mind I was screaming, "Don't do it you dumb *$@# it's CRACK!"...but of course that wasn't going to happen. Needless to say, in this particular cinematic moment, a random stranger introduced another random stranger to a drug that would take them both to hell and kept them there....
Although that was only a movie, I have plenty of "real life" examples to back up my assertion that bad influences bring NOTHING good into your life, let alone when you won't even let yourself identify who and what they are!
Let's start with one's inputs. When you wake up each day, where are you...who are you with...why are you there...and what do you allow yourself to listen to/watch as you prepare for your day? As a younger person, I remember counting down the days until I could move out of my parents' home, which was more of a gulag than anything else. Is the place where you live now a place that is also your true sanctuary...your place of peace and rest...a place where you feel safe and secure? If not, your living quarters and arrangements may be exerting more of a "bad influence" over your than you realize.
Just today I was watching a portion of a movie entitled "Smashed" at the moment when a girl had just picked up a random stranded female in front of a bar who begged for a ride home. Once in the car together, the passenger asked if she could smoke. Turns out what the passenger began to smoke was a rock of crack. Because both driver and passenger were drunk, the passenger offered a hit off her pipe to the driver saying "This is amazing! You'll never be the same again!" In my mind I was screaming, "Don't do it you dumb *$@# it's CRACK!"...but of course that wasn't going to happen. Needless to say, in this particular cinematic moment, a random stranger introduced another random stranger to a drug that would take them both to hell and kept them there....
Although that was only a movie, I have plenty of "real life" examples to back up my assertion that bad influences bring NOTHING good into your life, let alone when you won't even let yourself identify who and what they are!
Let's start with one's inputs. When you wake up each day, where are you...who are you with...why are you there...and what do you allow yourself to listen to/watch as you prepare for your day? As a younger person, I remember counting down the days until I could move out of my parents' home, which was more of a gulag than anything else. Is the place where you live now a place that is also your true sanctuary...your place of peace and rest...a place where you feel safe and secure? If not, your living quarters and arrangements may be exerting more of a "bad influence" over your than you realize.