It’s time we stop fearing the Friend Zone

Everybody is friend zoned at least once regardless of gender. I have been too many a times. But it is high time we should stop fearing it.

You and they are best friends. You share everything with them without the fear of judgement. You know you can be your self whenever they are around. They are with you through thick and thin, whether you have had a break up or you are single or you have just gotten into a relationship. They have helped you complete your assignments, worked with you during projects, helped you in studies and most importantly have been with you when you had an emotional outburst. They have seen all your moods and tolerated all of you. Suddenly, you realize that you have fallen for your best friend. You see them differently now. You want more than just friendship. But what is the difference between friendship and love/liking? Friendship is also love between two people without expecting anything from the other. Nevertheless, you want to see them as your life partner or as your boyfriend or as your girlfriend. But then you also realize that they don’t reciprocate your feelings. They see you plainly as a friend and that has got nothing to do with you or your character. It is not that they are too good for you. They are just friends who don’t see you from that perspective. This is one way how we are friend zoned.

The other way is when you like someone already without knowing them much. They are an acquaintance or rather a stranger you fancy. You introduce yourself to them via a mutual friend and get to know them. You already had intentions to crush on them. So, you would want to impress them in the best of ways hoping that they would realize how you actually feel about them. This time you are again greeted with disappointment. This time they don’t feel the same about you for a number of reasons. Maybe they don’t like you at all or they want you to be only friends or their past memories haunt them even if they like you or they think you are desperate (that you actually might be) or because of familial reasons or maybe they are already with someone else. Whatever the case, it still doesn’t mean that they are too good for you. Things might not always work out the way you want them to and still it’s nobody’s fault. So, stop blaming yourself and move on. You can’t force them to be with you. You have your self-respect too.

But if they offer you their friendship, what’s wrong with that? It shows they respect you and your feelings towards them. It just shows that even if they don’t see you the way you want them to, they still don’t want to lose you. They want you to be a part of their life. You know you are just going to remain a friend after all but remember good friendships last a lifetime and relationships might not. So, that feeling you have towards them won’t last long unless reciprocated but that bond of friendship will last. It will take time to get over them but it’s surely not going to cost you a lifetime.

Besides, there is a lot more to ponder about in your life than just a random feeling you had that didn’t work out. So, just chill. You shouldn’t miss out on diamond in pursuit of gold.