Why do you think it is important to have a best friend?

I think I outgrew the notion of a best friend many years ago. Some of my friends can handle some information, others cant. Some can be trusted with certain information and others cannot. People as friends often we feel, let us down. So it is a bit much for one person to carry. I talk to certain people about certain things. Or I will post on here, for example. Having said that I have a boy friend I can tell anything. He loves me unconditionally. And tries his best to assist where he can. So that can I would imagine translate to certain friends. But I have not experienced that myself.

It’s not absolutely mandatory that you have a best friend. You can have a group of friends.

Because somebody has got to be there to carry you back to your car, somebody has got to have your back, and somebody has got to be able to tell you when your wrong or right.

@psyonicpanda Got it just about right. We can only see in front of us. If something is demanding our vital attention in front, It matters to have somebody on the flanks, or wathcing our back.
Plus, we all find it difficult to always be objective. It helps to have somebody who will tell the truth when you need to hear it.

I’m my own best friend as everyone should be, and while having friends to bounce ideas off of and share in the times of your life is great, we all need to be our own best friends and like all relationships, “best friends” may or may not be forever.
No one, single, person can ever meet all your needs. Friends, like lovers, are meant to enhance your life not become your life.

@Coloma as lonely as that sounds you do have a valid point though, the word ”best” can be misconstrued in various situations.

@psyonicpanda Well, I mean that friends, like romantic relationships come and go, but it is important to be ones own best friend and not be too dependent on outside support. I’d rather have one or two quality friends than a bunch of shallow aquaintances.

I’m not quite sure where I’d be without my best friends….in person and online. Sometimes they are the only ones who you can talk to…and the only ones who can relate and understand what you’re going through. Afterall, you spend hours, days and years getting to know each other so that you can be there for each other.

@psyonicpanda – Since I became my own best friend (around the age of 41), the hollow loneliness that haunted the prior 4 decades – even when I was in a crowd or in the arms of a lover – vanished. I have not once felt lonely in over 5 years.

3 years ago, I met my fiancé. He loves me unconditionally and is my best friend ever. I am comfortable with him and always myself – without feeling any pressure or expectations, and no need for pretense. We became friends first, and then realized the comparability held the potential for a wonderful romantic partnership (today is the 3 year anniversary of our first meeting face-to-face; we had met a couple months earlier on an online social community similar to Fluther, and had texted and talked, as well).

I also have some old and dear friends – a pair I’ve known since we were 5–6 years old, and another I met as a teenager in the early ‘80s.

Having people in your life that accept you as you are, have seen you through life’s ups-and-downs, and won’t hold a grudge if months go by and you haven’t spoken is an enrichment to life. Having people who can be honest and tell you that a decision you are making might not be the best idea, but will still stand by you when you go down that path, and then hug you when it turns out that they were right in the first place is priceless.

I am an introverted person and I don’t make new friends easily. I also had a troubled childhood, so my bffs are my true siblings. I do know people that have close-knit families and are best friends with their siblings and cousins. That is great, too.

It’s not really that important but it is nice.

I don’t, best friends are for children & dawgs.

I find close friends are almost an emotional imperative for me. Sure they change over time. And I can’t always bring issues up with them or some of them.

Sometimes they knock me off my high horse. Sometimes they support me and give me an arm. I find myself reclusive by nature. It is so easy to forget to need people. It is easy to become calloused and fout of tune with my own emotions. I can’t see them so therefore they don’t exist.

My friends keep in touch with humanity my own, thier’s and people in general.

Sometimes there are things I don’t share with them although sometimes I later realize I underestimated them.

How do you be your own best friend?

It’s nice to have a best friend because you have someone to talk to/share secrets with/make memories with, but in the long run they aren’t that important. People are full of disappointments
and it’s good if you can be your own best friend. I find the statement “only trust yourself” to be very true in many situations. So don’t feel bad if you don’t want a best friend because they could end up hurting you in the long run. I speak from a lot of experience.