Sometimes in life you have to really evaluate what is important and what is not.

I have had to do this a lot lately, and it includes determining whether or not certain people should be a part of my life.

There are people in life who want to see you fail and thrive in knowing that your life is completely unmanageable.

These people, in my opinion, do not belong in my life anymore.

I have given chance after chance to let these people prove to me that they are worth my time and energy, mostly because they are family members, but after giving them thousands of chances it is time for me to rid myself of all contact with them.

My mission in life, as of right now, is to graduate, succeed in hopefully an amazing journalism career, find love and potentially have a family of my own, all while maintaining my sobriety and helping others.

I cannot do any of these things if I have negative people and energy surrounding me.

It is important for everyone to think hard about the people, places and things in their lives and to really decide if they are worth remaining there.

It is definitely not an easy thing to do, and it is truly sad when it comes to having to cut all ties with people, especially family members, but if they are negative and vile like the ones I have had the unfortunate opportunity to know, than I promise you will be so much better off and will feel better as a complete whole.

Clean up and get rid of the clutter, and I promise you will feel much relief.

Andrew Paisley is a senior journalism major. He can be reached at 581-2812 or at abpaisley@eiu.edu.