Not all of the people I enjoyed hanging out with are real friends.  Some of them were only interested in having fun together, they discouraged me from doing things that didn’t involve them – it is as if they only thought of me as a plaything, one of their toys.  My real friends wanted to see me succeed and encouraged me to try new things, even if it meant moving on without them.  Those are the people that I have actually stayed close to decades later.  They are the people who care enough about me that I can count on them going out of their way to keep me from getting into trouble.

Think about who are your true friends, and about who can count on you as one of their true friends.