What we are now, and the kind of life we will come to know, is very much determined by the "interior" company we keep. Although this idea of "inner" company may be new to you, its reality becomes common sense once we see the truth of it. In this instance, we live in a perpetual relationship with our own thoughts and feelings -- thought forms and emotional forces forming an invisible "circle of friends."
Yet, they are more.
Most of us already know, intuitively, that love, patience, kindness, and compassion arise from a higher order of being than do negative states like hatred, frustration, resentment, and fear. The wise ones of all ages -- long called the "Friends of Truth" -- understand, as we are now invited to, that the more time we spend in the company of truly higher ideas, the more the life of these timeless truths becomes our own. Welcoming "friends" such as these into our lives grants us the power to "move mountains" because, with their guidance, we no longer make the mistake of building some "molehill" into an impassible barrier. These friends go before us to make the "crooked places straight" -- by lifting us above the level of mind that creates one dark corner after another with its unconscious demands.
How does one become a friend of truth? The answer is surprisingly simple. We must be willing to see the truth of ourselves, starting with this somewhat shocking revelation:
The things we put first in our life, our moment-to-moment choices in life, are a direct reflection of what we value most in that moment.
What this means is that our experience of life -- for its pain or pleasure, darkness or brightness -- is a perfect reflection of what we want most from life. People who want to go on feeling like victims despise truths like these; after all, it's so much easier to resist and resent our circumstances than it is to change the consciousness responsible for the way we perceive them. Prove this truth to yourself, and you will put out of your life all that presently limits it.
By putting the wish to see the truth of yourself before the act of trying to win what you want, you soon see that most of your desires and their demands are not the friends they pretend to be. Rather, they are a host of small powers into whose hands you've mistakenly entrusted the keys to your consciousness. And further, that in exchange for this friendship you've given them, they have become -- for all intents and purposes--tyrants dedicated to taking away your right to be self-ruling.
Choosing to keep the company of truth is the same as choosing to lose all the false "friends" that presently limit you. Just as you can't cage a lion in a child's crib, no negative state can keep you its captive once you've seen it for what it really is -- nothing without your consent.