The Mystery of Environment

There was a girl. Her name was Lisa. At twelve she was classified as a nerd. She giggled a lot and was known as a good kid. Then something happened. Her parents got divorced.

Her parents were everywhere but home. Dad ran out and got a girlfriend and mom worked late and stopped by the local bar to drown her sorrow.

Now Lisa is all grown up. Well, almost.

She's sixteen now and comes home late. Sometimes her boyfriend "drops" her off at home at four and five in the morning. I know because that is when my own days start and, as I walk my dog, I see.

One day we needed sugar. So I jumped across the street and banged on the door. Guess what? Lisa answered the door. One of her male friends was wearing heavy mascara and a girl, sitting listening to very loud music, was smoking. Oh, and they had candles lit and lots of them.

Weird. At 3:45 AM? Where was mom? Something has happened to Lisa. She isn't even close to how she use to be.

Yeah, kids grow up and some kids smoke. But this was a totally different Lisa.

So what happened? I'll tell you what happened. Her environment changed. Because when circumstances changed, new people, new music, and new standards were allowed to walk in.

Now, let's talk about you. Just how bad do you want to break free? Tell me, just how bad?

Here is what I did. I drastically changed my environment. Big time. What and who I allowed to participate in my life, changed. Just as Lisa's life changed by association, I changed mine. I changed what I spend time doing, where I go, and I began associating with "big" people.

Folks who are doing more, earning more and who were, well, thinking more.