"He that walketh with wise men shall be wise: but a companion of fools shall be destroyed." (Prov 13:20) I recently heard an Hausa proverb which literally translates, "the friend of a thief is a thief". This proverb among many others serves as a proof to the theory that our fiends are not the type of people we want, but the type of person we are. In the true sense, we do not choose our friends. Our friends are drawn to us. We attract who we are. Fundamentally, friendship is based on mutual interest. So if you take into consideration that for all your friends, the only constant is you, then you will realize that there must be something in you that attracts the type of people you have as friends. I want to take for granted that we are already familiar with the saying, "Show me your friend and I will tell you who you are". The truth is that we are not different from the type of friends we keep. Our circle of friends determine our direction and affects our focus. If you want better friends, then be better. Don't bother changing your friends,just change yourself. If there is anyone to be conscious of, to be wary of - it is yourself. .
Have you noticed that just like water rises to its own level, so do people gravitate towards other people who are just like them. The poor befriend the poor, the rich befriend the rich. Even the mentally retarded have been observed to befriend other mentally retarded persons. It is an undeniable fact of nature. As a result, the most effective way to change one's position in life is to change one's association; and the best way to change one's association is to change one's inner person. It is the you in you that attract the people that relate with the you they see. The Bible says "He that walks with the wise will be wise". May I submit to you that he that walks with the wise must himself be wise also. Without wisdom, you will not last long in the company of the wise and moreover you will just look like the obvious fool!