In my life, I have come across multiple situations where I had to make difficult decisions. I have learned to let go of things that are unhealthy in my life. Friends are suppose to support you and have your full trust. Although, I have learned that I had to reevaluate my friends to live a better life full of people that I can trust. I have been best friends with my neighbor down the street all throughout my childhood. It was not until middle school where our friendship took a turn south. Losing a friend was very hard for me, but it was my decision to let it go. I could not be best friends with someone who I could no longer trust. This has impacted my life because I learned how to chose my friends wisely and how to trust the correct people.

In my younger teen years, I made the choice to let go of a friend. This friend was a bad influence on me and was not doing me any good. In middle school was when I first started to see signs that were red flags. She started to steal from my house and lie constantly to me. The lies were for no reason. She lied about how much money she had and what people would say about others. When I was comforting her when she was going through, what I thought were rough times, it was all made up. I was in disbelief that my best friend would have done something so wrong to me. Over Christmas break in middle school, I received gift cards to my favorite shopping places, Victoria Secret and American Eagle. I was so happy to receive these gifts from my parents. I knew what I wanted from these stores and was planning to go after Christmas break ended. I had my “friend” over and found out that she stole my cards because I could not find them anywhere in my house. I asked both my parents and sisters if they would have taken them by chance, but they all said no. I asked my friend about it and she insisted that she did not. Although, a couple days later, my “friend” came to school with a new Victoria Secret backpack. My friend did not have enough money to afford that type of bag and her parents would not have given her the money to buy that. Later on in the week, I asked her again and she said that I gave her the gift card that I received from Christmas to her. I know that I would not have given something to her that I really wanted and I knew this was the beginning of the reasons why I could no longer be friends with her. Friends are supposed to be trusted, but I began to lose all trust after finding out she was constantly lying to me.

Later did I figure out that she had stolen from my house. This girl stole money, purses, and other little things that were not for her. I made the choice to let go of this strong friendship we once had because of the bad influence she was putting on me. The reasons why I did not want to associate with her were because she was not being a sincere friend. Friends do not lie and steal from one another. Things could have gotten out of hand if she was to shoplift something from a store and I was with her. One day in middle school, my “friend” came to our lunch table with a Victoria Secret handbag that she was using to carry all her pencils in. The bag looked so familiar to me, but I just brushed it off. Once she sat down and I got a closer look at the bag, I noticed it was definitely mine. My Victoria Secret hand bag had a blue stain on the bottom of it. This bag that my “friend” was using to carry her pencils in was mine. She stole again from me! I could not believe that I saw another item from my house in her possession. I confronted her and told her that this was my bag and I know for a fact because of the stain on the bottom. She hesitated and said that she saw it in her backpack when she slept over at my house the previous weekend. I told her that I never put it there so she must have slipped it in there on purpose. I was furious and needed to change my ways in choosing my friends. To this day, I made better friends that care for me and respect my feelings and belongings. I learned from this past event to choose my friends wisely because some can do more harm than good.

Overall, I have learned how to figure out good vs. bad friends. Friends care for you and will bring out the best in you. All this “friend” did was bring the worst out in me when she began to steal and lie to me constantly. I made a change for the best and let go of a once was best friend. Friends come and go and the best of friends stick around and are always there to support you.