For years now, the idea of having a best friend to rule over the others has been a trend on social media. There are many cute best friends photoshoot ideas that highlight the fun of having someone who is so in sync with who you are. These are all lighthearted and good, but they ignore the fact that most friendships and friend groups don’t work like that.
I can’t count the number of times I have seen people fight among friends because of this labeling system, especially since everyone has a slightly different definition of what a best friend is and how many best friends you can have. There is a team that says only one person can be the true best friend, while the other side says that people can have as many or as few best friends as they want. Every person you are friends with is a unique person, so as you would expect, the friendships will vary, too. The issue comes into play when you try to measure these relationships against each other, because more often than not someone gets their feelings hurt.
Too often I see situations where someone labels a best friend, but that person doesn’t see them as a best friend in return. This situation can go a couple of ways, the first being that the person whose feelings aren’t reciprocated gets angry and starts a fight among the friend group, or both people ignore it. But from personal experience, it tends to be brought up eventually. There is also the problem that comes up when a friend starts a new relationship, and they demote their old best friend to make room for their significant other. As you can guess, this often goes south, and friendships might end because of it. So why risk it when you can simply spread the love to everyone? Life isn’t the Olympics; there doesn’t need to be a winner of your affection.
This doesn’t mean that all of our relationships have to be identical in value; everyone has a friend or friends who they are closer to than others. It is natural. Rather than trying to it these relationships against each other, you can simply appreciate them for their differences. You can always go out to drink with some of your friends and play board games with others. It does not mean that any of them have to be less important than the others. They are unique individual people. What does anyone truly gain from comparing them to one another? You can still do the fun “best friends” activities but skip the competition among friends for an arbitrary title. Just love your friends; that is what they are there for!