![ist1_9024596-children-jumping-isolated-xxxl[1]](http://www.streetsmartkids.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/ist1_9024596-children-jumping-isolated-xxxl1.jpg "ist1_9024596-children-jumping-isolated-xxxl[1]")
Being a kid is a one shot deal. Once you lose it, it is gone forever. Theoretically being a kid is the best part of your life. The rest is good too but being a kid is very special. There are so many innocent laugh out loud good times, not a worry in the world, pure love, no hate, no resentment, no racism, no judgment, no betrayal, no violence, no lies, no deceit, no anxiety, no stress and on and on. Why throw it all away as soon as we can?
Many kids do not have the choice to be kids for very long. If you do, cherish it. Growing up is forever. You might have 16-18 years of being a kid versus a possible 70 years of not being one. The temptations thrown at kids today are often simply for commercial gain, someone’s sick enjoyment or just plain parental irresponsibility. Unfortunately, for all the good forces out there trying to make life special there are many more trying to make life worthless. Getting caught up in the wrong set of circumstances can rob a kid of their life before they have time to comprehend it well enough to control it. It is important to recognize where to go and what to avoid as early as possible.
Many journeys down the wrong path do not have a place to make a U-turn. It is very possible to damage your brain, both emotionally and physically so that there is no going back. If you start out lucky enough to have choices, why throw that all away?
POSTED BY Gordon ON June 25th, 2009.
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![ist1_8895985-group-of-diverse-kids-holding-thumbs-up[1]](http://www.streetsmartkids.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/ist1_8895985-group-of-diverse-kids-holding-thumbs-up11.jpg "ist1_8895985-group-of-diverse-kids-holding-thumbs-up[1]")
Your friends will make or break you. Good friends won’t even know that that are empowering you to do better and their positive influence will take you further than you can imagine. The better they do, the better you do. It’s natural to want to keep up.
On the other hand, bad friends will consciously encourage you to be bad and the worse you do, the better it makes them look and feel. They get to feel good about themselves by comparison when you do bad things. The more you fail and the deeper the trouble that you find yourself in, the better they feel. Makes one think doesn’t it? Is a “friend” who gives you drugs or alcohol really a friend… or an enemy? Be smart about this very important and difficult to swallow conclusion. You will make very few true friends in your life. Once you recognize a true friend, you should do all you can to be even a better friend back to them. Of the thousands of people that you will meet in your life, less than a handful will unconditionally be there for you when you really need them.
Bad friends are everywhere; they come and go spreading their negativity and deceit around everyone they encounter. Once it is obvious that they can’t use you or get anything from you, they will move on to another, leaving you disappointed, disillusioned, less trusting and a little less capable of making really good friends in the future. Beware of losing your ability to trust because of the bad judgment you made when you chose your last group of friends. Every time you lose a good friend and get disappointed in this way, you could lose a little of what it takes to be a real good friend. Choose your friends wisely!
POSTED BY Gordon ON June 2nd, 2009.
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![ist1_7790448-sad-schoolboy[1]](http://www.streetsmartkids.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/06/ist1_7790448-sad-schoolboy1.jpg "ist1_7790448-sad-schoolboy[1]")
As mentioned in the blog about the quality of your friends, peer pressure could be either good or bad but the focus here is on why you would want to be like someone else. The best case scenario is that you will just be a poor impression of someone else. When trying to be like someone else, remember that drugs and alcohol usually affect people differently. If your friend can handle six drinks and you get sick from one, you must have the intelligence to realize that what does not permananetly affect one person may ruin the life of another.
After the party, your friend might get a big headache and you might get addicted. Is it really worth it? Are you cool if you follow your friends or are you cool if you say no? You are really cool if you say no and tell someone else to say no….this is the sign of a leader and a real winner. You may be too young to know this right now but take this information with you, forever. Following is easy, in fact we all follow and few really lead but the most admired people in the world are typically leaders.
Your parents, your teachers, your bosses, your music and movie idols and eventually your own kids will leave you in awe with their leading roles in some aspect of their lives. Learn about leadership and you will learn about responsibility. Responsible people usually get to enjoy some of life’s wonderful little gifts along the way.
POSTED BY Gordon ON June 4th, 2009.
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