When people think of "relationships," they often think of two people who are in love and are dating; and often the things that come with it like flowers, chocolates, and dinner dates.

Society likes to tell the world that their lives will not be worth living unless they are in a romantic relationship, and it makes young teenagers feel insecure because they don't have a significant other. This can be a harmful mindset to have because nobody should feel insecure about not having a significant other. However, everyone should feel grateful for platonic love.

There have been many articles all over the internet entitled things like "Can a man and a woman be just friends?" and in my humble and honest opinion, I think those are some of the dumbest articles ever to be written on the internet.

All I could think to myself was "of course a man and a woman can be just friends! Are these articles for real?" I just couldn't stomach what many of these articles were saying, because in many ways, being in a platonic relationship can be just as rewarding, if not more, as being in a romantic relationship.

The simple truth is, a guy and a girl can be friends; but since society pushes romantic relationships on everyone like it's nobody's business, many people, especially teenagers, dismiss platonic love as "nothing special," and feel bad whenever they don't have a romantic partner in their lives. It has made a negative impact on our society because of this, and this is the type of thought that desperately needs to be unlearned by all.

Having a romantic partner is not a bad thing by any means. I love seeing my friends in happy romantic relationships with people they love. It really does make me happy. What bugs me is how many people don't value platonic love in the same way, when it deserves just as much value as romantic love. I don't like seeing singles being bitter about seeing happy couples everywhere because they don't have a significant other of their own. What I'm trying to say is that whether you're in a romantic relationship or not, the relationships you have with your platonic friends are just as valid.

And if you don't have a significant other, that's perfectly okay. You are not any less valid just because you're not in a romantic relationship. Having platonic friends are just as valid, and your relationships with them are just as valid and should be valued. Whether someone is in a romantic relationship or not, everyone has platonic relationships, and they deserve just as much love and value as romantic ones.