Last week I went on a summer vacation to Hurricane, Utah, with my best friend Savannah. We had initially planned to go to Southern California, but our plans changed at the last minute, leaving me rather disappointed. I mean, who would rather hang out in a rural Utah town for a week than sunny, beachy, amusement park-packed California? But then it dawned on me that it really shouldn’t and doesn’t matter where I am or what I’m doing because no matter what, with my bestie by my side, we’re both bound to have the times of our lives.
Best friendship is something that often gets taken for granted and is underrated. But if it is anything like my friendship with Savannah, it is easily, for various reasons, one of the greatest gifts that life has to offer. I’m not shy about making new friends, and I keep in touch and hang out with the majority of them regularly. While they’re good people, and are always fun to hang out with, their fine company can’t compare to having my personally declared best friend around, however. Here’s why…
Being in a best friendship, is like being in the perfect relationship, but without the sexual perks. In a sense, it’s like you’re dating each other emotionally. You rely on one another for advice and support, and there is a strict understanding that nothing can, or will, tarnish your bond – not distance, new acquaintances or relationships, goals, life, anything. Furthermore, you take each other’s wellbeing very seriously in that you’re always honest about what you think is best, you’re naturally respectful of and cooperative with one another, despite your differences, and no matter what there’s never any question as to whether you have each other’s backs.
While you can be dead serious with one another, it isn’t uncommon to experience abdominal cramping as a result of hysterical laughing episodes. When you’re real best friends, your BFF duo likely has more fun than romantic couples do because there’s never any of those all-too-common relationship stresses, pressures and irrational “butt-hurt” attitudes that tend to surface in romantic relationships. You never have to worry about “where is this going,” or “what the next step is,” or “if you’re ready.” While there is still an underlying, serious care for one another, usually all you have to do is enjoy the worry-free good times and let the friendship develop and maintain itself organically.
In addition to the serious concerns and laughing attacks, there is also a level of comfort and acceptance between the two of you that takes time, patience and understanding to develop. Once you’ve reached a true best friend level, you can say absolutely anything to one another and you’ll both understand, no matter how personal, absurd, out there, or inappropriate it may be. You constantly seem to be on the same mental wavelength with each other, which leads to an overwhelming (to others) abundance of inside jokes. Finally, you know the weirdest and grossest things about each other, but you don’t think twice about them. From my experience it takes quite a while to reach a level of friendship that encompasses understandings and familiarities like these.
It’s hard to say what ultimately makes a friendship click perfectly to reach a best friendship status. I would like to say that while I know it’s fun to have a huge number of acquaintances and cellular contacts to party with on the weekends, the benefits of having a long-lasting best friend, in my opinion, are essential to a happy and emotionally fulfilling life. I encourage everyone, if you don’t already have one, to make the effort to reach such a deep and honest level of friendship.