When I was growing up, there was one kid that I usually hung around with, and he was also my next door neighbor which made it easy to consider him my best friend. I had other friends, and I hung around them as well but anyone of them could have been my friend at the time if they had been my neighbor instead.
As I got older and entered into junior high, I had changed friends, some of my old ones had moved away and new ones moved in, I also had moved from where I previously lived and my "best friend" and I barely saw each other. The new friends I made did different things and there was that one guy who I hung around with more than the others, effectively becoming my new best friend.
In high school my friends changed yet again, I still had some friends from junior high but I was making new friends that I enjoyed as much as my current best friend. We all hung out in a group on our breaks and after school hours, and I was having a hard time considering only one of them my "best friend".
I have come to the conclusion that it is totally possible to have multiple best friends, as each person you meet has different qualities that you love about them, each person is different and as a result they bring different perspectives to the table, labeling just one of them as a best friend does a disservice to the other buddies that I considered close and as best friends themselves.
Telling your other friends that you consider someone else to be better than they are in the friendship department hurts them, and could possibly put a wedge in between your relationship. While it's true that they are not the same, its also true that you don't consider them any less of a friend than the other person.
Using that label, "Best friend" is harmful to the people in your life that you love, but don't consider them as important as someone else. I love all my friends equally, they all have had a positive affect on my life and I wouldn't trade any of them for a singular "Best Friend" Every single one of them in my eyes is a best friend, and so ends this blog on my thoughts on multiple best friends.
Scott Goerz
