Dating Your Best Friend is What You Should be Doing. Right. Now.
WTF DOES "DATING" MEAN ANYWAY?...
I'm sitting next to one of my best female friends as I write this article. Two women, drinking wine at a rooftop restaurant in NYC, discussing the pressures of people trying to be everything other than themselves when in a significant relationship.
Three men, also in their mid-to-late-twenties, are sitting on the couch to our right. Foreigners, and on a vacation visiting New York, the men admitted to not speaking much English. However, I still asked them "Are you three 'best friends?'" and in understanding the universal language that is best friendship, I got the only response I needed to hear to write this article..."Yes!" they all said in unison.
Two women, three men, separate tables, separate conversations, and a true desire not to be anywhere else or with anyone else other than where we were and who we were with in that very moment. Since I cover the topic of dating (which is a true nightmare in NYC), I've been thinking more and more about what it means to actually date someone. If dating is simply defined as getting dinner or drinks, then I suppose that fits it's purpose, for whoever it's intended...but I define dating as investing...investing yourself, your time your energy, your resources in someone else...and expecting a return.
#Blessed to have best friends in my life that have only proven increased value and importance in my life since losing my father, I realized the only dating with return on investment is to date your best friend.
Let me tell you why...
1. friends become family
We meet people at certain times in our lives, and it can become blurry as to who will stay short-term, and who will become part of our future. All I can say is that when you look back on a photograph, you will never regret a memory made with a best friend... but you may want to light the fire under a photo of an old flame.
2. They Love You for You...Exactly How You Are
Best friends not only allow for you to be the "real you" without any judgments, they also encourage you to let your freak flag fly. Proudly.
3. They're honest and tell you what you need to hear when you need to hear it
.
4. They Know What You Want is What You Deserve
The only thing I said I wanted for my 25th birthday was a sparkler in my mouth. Ridiculous request? Of course! But it's the people who take these random requests seriously that mean the most in your life.
5. They Watch you Grow, and You Grow With Them
In good times and in bad, from first dates to first jobs, to first child...your friends will be the only consistent relationship in your life and the ones you can count on when you need it the most
Thank you to all my best friends, you know who you are...but also know that I wouldn't be here without you! I love and appreciate you more than you know...this one's for YOU!