All my life I heard the phrase, “You can only have one best friend.” Well I’m here to tell you why that’s complete BS.
It’s okay to have more than one best friend because, believe it not, you’re going to be more than one person in your life. You will grow and prosper in different stages of life and it’s important to have people that will stand beside you.
Best friends are placed in our lives for many different reasons. There’s not one single person on this planet that can teach you every life lesson.
I’ve experienced several different stages of friendship and I’ve developed what I would call my “best friends” in each of those stages.
Family
My mom, my aunt, my cousins, my brothers, and my sisters. Now those are best friends. They changed my diapers, put me in timeout, witnessed those ugly middle school years, pretended to love me when I was an awful teenager, and now appreciate me for the human being that I am today. Whether you have a close family or not, I encourage you to reach out to at least one family member and build a strong relationship with them. After all, no one understands your crazy family like your crazy family.
Hometown Best Friend
Chances are that you went to elementary, middle, and high school together. You lived a few houses down from each other and you both know everything about the other. You’ll always hold a special bond with your hometown best friend because they’re the only person who truly understands everything about you. They were there when your parents (almost) got a divorce, they were there the very first time you cut all of your hair off, they can point out the exact spot on that old back road where you wrecked your truck when you were 16, they know exactly what you’re going to order at your favorite Mexican restaurant, and they know what type of ice cream you like when your heart gets broken (because they’ve been there for all 3 times). They know you inside and out. They’re basically your other half. Regardless of distance or lack of communication, you know that they are your best friend, because, honestly, you wouldn’t be who you are without them.
College Best Friend(s)
Whether you met them in class, at a party, through a mutual friend, or in line at Starbucks, this best friend is about to change your life. You cannot imagine how you ever lived without them. It’s crazy to think about how much you have in common with someone who lived hundreds of miles away from you. This type of best friend is special because they witnessed your discovery of freedom. They harbor the worst blackmail possible, have the funniest stories to tell about your tailgating shenanigans, can recount every embarrassing moment you’ve ever had in the basement of a frat house, and most importantly, they were there the entire time you were trying to figure out how to “adult”. It’s a different kind of a friendship than a hometown friendship, this friendship is based on struggling, surviving, and (sometimes) thriving together in the “real” world.
Teammates
Whether you’re an athlete, on a completive academic team, serve SGA, or on the board for any organization or association, you’ve experienced the friendships that form from being teammates. These are the ugliest and most beautiful of all friendships. Teammates have seen you at your best, and more often than not, your absolute worst. They’ve seen you go without sleep, they’ve been around you on the sixth day of not washing your hair, they’ve worked on projects with you for two weeks straight, they’ve seen you break down, they’ve watched you thrive, they’ve seen you hangry, and they’ve seen you on at your peak of perfection. Teammates are kind of like arranged marriages, you may not know or like the person in the beginning but, by the end, you end of loving them.
Organizational Best Friends
Kinda like college best friends, kinda like teammates, but in a whole different aspect. Whether you’re in a fraternity, sorority, or any other club on campus, you have what I like to call “organizational best friends”. These are the individuals that you would not have met without said organization but they’re your best friends none the less. You bond over rituals, inside jokes, and how you're so #blessed that this organization brought you together. These are the friendships that are “definitely going to last beyond the four years” and more often than not, that’s true.
“Used to Be” Best Friends
We all have stories that involve our “used to be” best friend. Whether they fall in any of the categories above doesn’t necessarily matter, what matters is that these are the individuals you once “did life with” and for some reason, you’re no longer best friends. A “used to be” best friend doesn’t have to have negative connotations, it just simply means that they’re no longer a part of your life. “Used to be” best friends are just as important as everyone else because they were placed in our lives for a lesson and there’s no reason to not recognize that. A part of you will always reminisce on that special bond even if you aren't friends now.
The best friends listed above are not the only types of friends that you can have, these are just the ones I’ve experienced. Most of my best friends never cross over but sometimes they do. My hometown best friend has never met my college best friend. My sorority sisters have never met my real life sisters. And my “used to be” best friend will never meet any of them. They are each beautiful and unique in their own way. They each taught me a lesson I needed to learn. They each watched me grow in different aspects of my life. They made me who I am. And that’s why it’s utter crap to limit yourself to just one best friend.
