The Pros and Cons of Dating Your Best Friend

Deciding on dating your best friend may be a very risky and difficult decision to make. If you really are sure of the seriousness of your feelings toward him or her, then now would be the time to think through it more critically. So before taking that first step, here are the pros and cons to ponder on when considering dating your best friend.

Pros:

1. You know a great deal about each other already. You know each other’s favorites, dislikes and preferences. You know what foods the other likes, the favorite restaurants, hang outs, kind of movies and type of music. There’s no need to go through that awkward phase of getting to know each other. However, don’t rule out awkward situations, because entering a relationship, even with your best friend, will not prevent you from initially being self-conscious around each other.
2. Starting out as best friends lays a firm foundation of friendship which then sets the ground for a good relationship. A good thing about best friends starting to date and later on becoming a couple is that there is a good chance that the relationship will last because of the initial friendship that you have had. Whenever things may not be going right, or when you have fights with each other, the friendship that you had will be a sort of reinforcement to make things right again. Aside from this, it also makes the relationship stronger and more resilient.
3. You will find that it will be easier to be honest and open with each other. Being friends has already set down the foundations for trust and openness. Thus, it won’t be difficult to be honest toward each other. Plus, you can be yourself every time you are around each other because you both already know what the other is really like.

Cons:

1. There’s no turning back. Once you’ve both decided to take the relationship to the next level, you would have to be committed to that decision. You should both be ready to risk the friendship for the relationship. If any rejection occurs, it would be difficult for things to go back to normal again, and possibly, you would not be ready for the friendship to resume to the way it was before.
2. You could lose the friendship if you break-up. If you’ve both tried it out at being a couple then later on discover that you aren’t really for each other, it could end at that and it would be possible that the friendship would not be re-established again. You should be ready to take the risk of losing a best friend if you two break up.
3. You might lose quality time with your circle of friends, or even possibly alienate them. Of course when you start dating and become a couple, it would be normal that you want to spend every waking moment with each other. This could isolate both of you from your group of friends (since you have the same circle of friends), and your shows of affection for each other could even drive them away. You would have less time to spend with them because most of your time would be dedicated toward each other.

When you start dating your best friend, there would be newfound excitement but of course this would also come with some drawbacks. So prepare yourself emotionally and mentally, and be ready for the risks that come with being in a relationship with your best friend.