In kindergarten, you share a cookie with someone and they become your best friend for the day. You would take turns pushing each other on the swings and share secrets during naptime. Then the next day, someone new comes along and gives you their apple juice and then you have a new best friend. Man, life was sweet back in the day. Seemed like everyone was living on an attention span of two seconds.
Now, friends are harder to find, let alone best friends. We have different opinions, styles, lives, hobbies, personalities, mannerisms, and so on. Think about it: how many real friends do you have and about how many acquantances do you have? I have about hundreds of acquantances and hmm..5 solid, semi-reliable friends. One of them I call my "best friend" but I use that term rather loosely, although I pretend I mean it so I don't hurt her feelings.
Let's break this down. What is a friend? Someone you trust? love? care for? need?
Trust: Well, in my opinion, trust is bull. For example, if you trust your friend to not tell someone a secret, they're bound to say something eventually. Everybody talks. I talk, you talk, they talk, we all do. I don't fully trust anyone actually, not even my own mother. I have trust issues, but that's in a whole other ballpark, which I will talk about some other time.
Love: Sure. But how many people do you really love in this world?
Care: We're humans. We'll always care about things. It's pyschologically inevitable.
Need: Listen to me, people. You do not NEED someone. If you can spend a minute away from that someone, you don't need them, I swear.
To me, a friend is someone you can talk to more in depth than you would with someone you say hi to and have occasional conversations with. A friend is someone you can spend time with, someone you can share what's on your mind. But in reality, you don't need anyone but yourself. You can't love someone as much as you love yourself, whether you choose to believe that or not. You can't care of someone more than yourself. And you certainly can't trust anyone but yourself. Because who knows you better than anyone else in this world? You.
So I'd like to hear your opinions. What is a friend?
I totally agree with your statements. I have trust issues as well, and though I say I have best friends, my only real best friend is my boyfriend, because he is the only one that I can really trust. I've had a couple friends since first grade now, and who knows if they tell my secrets or not? But a friend is someone you feel comfortable talking to. This is exactly why you can consider anyone a friend, whether they are family, of no relation, or even an animal (ha).