Considering starting a romantic relationship with your best friend? Explore the benefits and drawbacks of marrying your closest companion.
Love, trust, mutual respect, and effective communication are the cornerstones of a successful marriage. Marrying someone you are not very familiar with requires time and effort to build these foundations. However, choosing to tie the knot with someone who already knows your strengths, weaknesses, vulnerabilities, likes, and dislikes can have both advantages and disadvantages.
Here are some indications that marrying your best friend could be a wise choice:
1. Changing dynamics: Your feelings towards your best friend may shift from platonic to romantic, leading to a desire for a deeper connection.
2. Protective instincts: Feeling protective and possessive towards your best friend, making the idea of them being with someone else uncomfortable.
3. Physical attraction: Developing a newfound physical attraction towards your best friend on top of the existing emotional connection.
4. Increased intimacy: Conversations and interactions becoming more personal and intimate, delving into deeper issues beyond regular friendship.
5. Seeking approval: Being more concerned with your best friend’s opinions, seeking their approval on matters beyond friendship.
6. Flirtatious banter: Conversations becoming flirtatious and suggestive, with inside jokes and banter taking on a romantic tone.
7. Gut feeling: A strong gut feeling that your best friend is meant to be more than just a friend, difficult to ignore.
In addition to these signs, marrying your best friend can have mental health benefits such as emotional security, improved communication, acceptance, shared experiences, trust, stress relief, companionship, laughter, emotional intimacy, empathy, and understanding. However, there are also potential disadvantages, including the risk of losing a valuable friendship if the romantic relationship fails, complacency in maintaining passion, unrealistic expectations, boundary issues, and lack of mystery or excitement.
Despite these drawbacks, they should not discourage you from marrying your best friend. It is essential to be aware of them and have open discussions on how to address them if they arise.