Question...?

These past few weeks have been some of very deep introspection. Brought on by perhaps some stress related circumstances, or maybe boredom...or more importantly maybe even some maturity. But my question still remains unanswered...

When do you decide whether other people's choices in life are bad and constant enough that you have to cut your ties with them because they influence you in an adverse way?

Now this could be trying to persuade you to do something against your personal beliefs or morals or just constantly involving you in their drama. But is this circumstantial? Does it depend upon your personal strength and will power? And if you do decide to abandon ship (aka relationships in question) is it a sign that you are not a true friend? Because obviously we all make bad choices or at times we even feel that we are innocent while we may be doing things that are making other people truly uncomfortable or worse, causing them pain. I know that I have made plenty of decisions that were wrong and at times, I brought people down with me. But I always knew that it was wrong and I always felt even worse knowing that I was hurting other people because of my selfish, prideful choices. But because of the wonderful friends and family that I do have, it has always been motivation to do better.

But what do you do when people cannot see that? When they believe that horrible choices can be made and that those choices will only effect themselves? It seems as though a true friend (myself in question) would hold on and keep trying and put effort into being there for that person. But what if that friend's life, despite the fun and all the history, is constantly a source of stress, disappointment, and pain? When do you determine if staying in the relationship is a self destructive behavior? It seems as though there are enough things in this world to bring you down. There are enough reasons to feel insecure and depressed. Should a friendship really be one of them? Probably not. But like I said, on more than one occasion, I have chosen bad paths, but my friends and family stood by me and that brought me out of some of the darkest of times...But there again! Am I simply justifying my reasons for not wanting to give up on this friendship even though I know that it is hurting my life and if I let it, it could dissolve my character- while holding on to that glimmer of hope that change is in the future?! See, it is a moral dilemma.

Basically:

Being a True Friend: Where are the limits? How much is based on my ability to be this true friend? How long do you allow yourself to be taken advantage of and manipulated before it is just not worth it?

That last question seems easy...shouldn't be too long before those red flags are waving, the sirens are sounding and you hit the trails. I just wish that it was that easy...