6 Reasons You Should Be Your Own Best Friend In This World

I am my own best friend.

I am the one who dries her tears and listens to her sorrows. I am the one who wakes her in the middle of the night and laments with her over past regrets.

I’m the one who tells her she’s beautiful and supports her passions and innermost desires. I am the one who follows her blindly down un-forged roads and keeps her company when everyone is gone and dead. I am the one who buys her surprises and drinks with her when no one else will.

I hate to let you in on this harsh truth, but you better hear it now before it’s too late: You will always be alone.

I don’t care if you get married, have a gaggle of best friends or become the proud parent of a Catholic amount of children -- you’re always going to be alone. We all are.

We’re all individual loners with our own burdens, desires and secrets. No one will ever know us as well as we know ourselves and the sooner we accept that, the easier we can get through life.

Because if you haven’t already learned the hard way, friends come and go. Throughout our lives we’re presented with new people, new friendships and new heartbreak.

We trust people who betray us, love people who hurt us and find people who leave us. We’re all on our own paths, intersecting with others for a while, but always on our own road. We’re lone wolves with nothing more than packs to follow and people to pass the time.

Like learning to be alone, learning to love yourself takes time. It takes years of self-loathing and insecurity to shed and many more years of self-discovery to find yourself.

It takes days, weeks and years spent alone. Like a good friend, it takes time to learn to share the silence comfortably and get used to the awkward things that make you tick. But it will be worth it.

It will be a relationship that never leaves, never tires and never bickers. It will be a relationship of discovery and solitude. It will be the most important relationship in your life and it’s important that you not only cherish it, but protect it.

Because that’s all you’ll have in the end. People who don’t know themselves as friends don’t know themselves as all. Many times they find the enemy or no one, and are left with an unbearable emptiness that leads to a seemingly empty existence.

If you are content being alone, could spend hours, days and weeks with just you and your thoughts, you’ve found a friend.

If you can take trips alone and dream of adventures through Europe and Africa with just you and yourself, you’re there. If you take long walks through the park, thinking and dreaming, you're with your very best friend, whether you know it or not. These are the reasons you should be your own best friend:

You'll Always Buy Yourself The Best Birthday Presents

Only you know what you love. No one else can buy you that necklace you’ve been eyeing in the antique store or the pair of jeans that will fit you just right. Never rely on anyone but yourself to do your shopping.

You’ll Never Judge Yourself

The sooner you begin to love yourself, the faster you’ll stop being so hard on yourself. People who love themselves never judge, because a good friend wouldn’t do that.

You'll Never Be Late

If you only have to rely on yourself, you’ll never be late. You'll never forget to show up or have to reschedule. The best part about being best friends with yourself is that you're always there.

You'll Be There In Your Darkest Hours

You don’t have to worry about getting a voicemail in the middle of the night or a surprise trip to camp for the summer. You, as your best friend, will always be there, always ready to listen and always there to help you feel better. Who better to listen to you and to cry with you, too?

You’ll Never Leave

You won’t get tired of putting in the effort and leave. You won’t tell you you’re boring or selfish or get mad because you forgot your own birthday.

You won’t leave for six months or make out with your ex-boyfriend behind your back. You're your best ally and won't leave no matter how hard you try and push away.

You'll Understand Why You’re Upset

You won't need to tell yourself when you're upset, you'll just know. You'll know when a boy is making your heart ache or when your parents won't stop fighting. You understand why you can't stop calling him or when you just need to sit there and cry.

Photo via We Heart It