Someone Who…

 

We always want to be the best of something.  We always want to have the best of something.  It is a great goal: it has powered the American dream, brought great technological achievements, and led to countless discoveries in the arts and sciences.  However what is “best” isn’t always perfectly defined.

When we use the term “best friend” it can mean a number of things. Most people would likely agree that a “best friend” is someone who you get along with better than most and thoroughly enjoy.  Beyond that, the definition becomes more mixed and based upon personal needs and wants.  For some individuals a best friend is someone who they can get along with flawlessly—someone who takes no energy away from them or the situation that they are in, only adds to it.  For others it’s a person who always listens and has quality advice and input.  It can be a foil, someone who you have arguments with, yet both always come out ahead because of them.  It can also be an enabler, someone who you feel comfortable being outgoing with.

What you define your best friend as says something very important about yourself—for many it is an embodiment of the fulfillment of their needs.  It has been said that a person can be defined by those he surrounds himself with.  It is because the values that you hold dear are expressed by your friends.

It used to bother me that the person I defined as my best friend wouldn’t share that definition with me.  However I realized that is what makes him my best friend.  He and I are complete opposites, he is my foil.  His best friend is the flawless type—someone easy to be with, someone who he never argues with.  He has enough adversity in his life, and he isn’t necessarily looking for more (though he certainly welcomes it with open arms, but that is besides the point).  I bring drama into his life, drama that builds both of us.  Is the conflict unwanted?  Only in excess, there have been times when we have both been fed up with each other, but those times are far between and fleeting.

A best friend is what you make it.  That individual identity can be anything: it is nothing more than a useless label that holds sentimental value deep within our hearts.  The value is placed upon the words by society, not the meaning or object itself.  Even though I haven’t discussed this article with my best friend, I would think that he would have to agree with it—grudgingly.  However I know that it will bring as big of a grin to his face as it did mine.