I’ll be honest, I have a lot of best friends. I’m hesitant to put a specific number because there’s always room for another best friend, but it’s safe to say I have more than five best friends. Now, don’t get me wrong, this is not a dig at people who only have one best friend. Everyone deserves the chance to have a best friend. Instead, I want to celebrate why I think having multiple best friends is better than only having one.

Growing up, you naturally gravitate towards having a best friend. It could be a neighbor, someone who’s in all of your classes, your cousin, the list is endless. Yet, I was never the kid with only one best friend. Or, maybe I was and I just can’t remember because that was so long ago. Regardless, by the time I got to my freshman year of high school and my friends had settled into their places in my life, I found myself with two best friends. We became a trio and we’re still best friends to this day! Over time, our trio became a foursome as one of my best friends got a serious boyfriend (who is now her fiance!) and we all became best friends.

Then came college and I found more people who I loved and considered best friends. I wasn’t separating everyone out into my high school best friends and my college best friends. Nope, collectively they are all just my best friends. I’m sure it confuses people when I’m constantly introducing my best friend as several different people. But, I’m so grateful that I’ve found so many people who I click with because I truly believe that having multiple best friends really is the best.

Want to know why? Well, for starters, I know exactly which friend to go to when I need to talk through a problem. Not all of my best friends are good at listening without wanting to fix things, and that’s okay! I know that while simply listening is not a strength of one of my friends, it’s a huge strength of another. I also know who to talk to when I want someone to text me back quickly and consistently. Again, not a strength of all of my bffs, but a strength of a couple. Having one best friend is great, but they have to fill multiple roles that sometimes they may not be all that good at doing. But with multiple best friends, each one has his or her own strengths and I don’t have to try and force one of my friends into a spot they aren’t comfortable in.

Each one also challenges me and teaches me how to be the best version of myself possible. I’ve learned how to love people better, how not to jump to anger so quickly, how to laugh at myself more, how to be kinder to people, how to admit when I’m wrong (I’m still working on that one!). They have helped smooth out a lot of my rough edges simply by being one of my best friends and spending a lot of time together. Honestly, without my best friends’ support and love, I would not be who I am or where I am today.

That’s really the best reason having multiple best friends is amazing. I have a community of people who have my best interests at heart loving and supporting me and also correcting me when I’m out of line. Each one brings his or her own outlook and they are not afraid to let me know what they think. Plus, they have all become part of my framily (friend family) and I cannot imagine life without them.