What it Means to be a Best Friend

There are so many people that come in and out of your life. And of course, when your friends are growing up they may find that significant other and it seems you've been replaced.

For all you twenty-somethings: you look around and just about everyone is either engaged, married, or pregnant. This is the age for all these life-changing moments to occur. And maybe your "best friend" falls into one of these categories. But maybe this new life for them isn't too bad. You realize you haven't been necessarily replaced. At first, your jealous, and this is natural. But it doesn't take long for you to realize that if you were the one who was about to start your life, you would want your best friend to love and support you too.

So you don't hang out with them everyday anymore. Instead, you find new things to take part in. Every now and then you check in with them to see how they are. Or even better, you get to know the person they are about to start their life with. Because if they want to date your best friend, they have to pass the test with you first. When you are a best friend, you do everything in your power to protect them and help them grow into becoming a better person. One of the hardest things though is letting them make all those mistakes, even though you may have been there a hundred times before.

You don't have to talk to someone everyday to know that they will have your back the moment you call them up. When your best friends with someone, they become family. So of course it's only natural you want the best for them. Even if you aren't the biggest fan of the person they are dating, you stand back and are happy for them anyways. If your gut is right, think of it this way... you were there before they were swept off their feet, and you'll still be there after.

Being a best friend is more than gossip and junk food for hours on end. It's loyalty. People walk in and out of your life all the time...those people aren't your best friends. Those people are acquaintances. Know the difference. You can't expect to have a good best friend if you aren't capable of being one yourself.

xo,

Christine