Back when you were a kid, your mom warned you about those people. They were the ones up to no good, always involved in various nefarious activities. They were the burnouts, the troublemakers, the future inmates.
We may no longer be in high school any more, but Mom’s warning still holds water.
If you want to avoid Adultitis, you need to stay away from the wrong crowd at all costs.
You may have trouble recognizing the wrong crowd these days, because they are not easily recognized by their missing homework, black death metal t-shirts, and ever-present fog of cigarette smoke. In your life, the wrong crowd is likely made up of those people who are always complaining about everything from the weather to the economy, or the ones who watch hours and hours of television, or the ones who are always embroiled in some sort of negative drama, or quite simply, the ones who have settled in life.
I was recently asked how to make sure you’re not settling for a life of complacency.
My answer was simple: take inventory of who you’re spending time with.
Kim and I try and spend as much time around people who are going places. People with big dreams and positive attitudes. Glass-half-full kind of people. Silly, fun, adventure-seeking people. When you’re around people like this, that energy rubs off. You can’t help but look at your own life and be inspired to think, play, and live bigger.
On the flip side, if you spend too much time in the presence of the wrong crowd, your health plummets, your happiness fades, and your future dims. Adultitis slowly strangles you, choking off the life you were made for.
The wrong crowd doesn’t usually loiter on street corners under broken streetlights. They’re dispersed in and amongst your workplace, your neighborhood, and maybe even some of your closest relationships.
It might be time to start running with a new crowd.
Figure out ways to spend less time with the wrong crowd. Be honest with yourself about who those people might be in your life, and be as gracious with them as possible as you move on, but be determined to avoid them at all costs. They can’t always be avoided entirely, which is why you have to make a point to offset the negativity by spending more time around people that challenge, inspire, and support you.
You (and your story) deserve it.