---

"I love you, you want to be my girlfriend?" We all know what the purpose of this phrase. The sentence is pronounced not to express the feeling to a person of the opposite sex who is loved and to be made a lover. But have you ever heard or got someone to say a sentence like this, "I love you, you want to be my best friend?", I have never heard anyone say or write such phrases in order to ask someone to be his best friend .

A dating or a relationship of love between two people of the opposite sex (but in today's crazy age can be same-sex) without a marriage bond is a behavior that is currently very much done by humans, especially teenagers. In the meantime friendship if I can define is a very close relationship between two or more human beings because of a similarity or attachment in principle, emotionally, and socially. Actually it is very difficult to find the right sentence to give a definition of friendship, but to just give a picture I think there is no harm in experimenting for a moment.

Which of the two relationships will we choose? Dating or friendship? Definitely everyone's answer is different. But most likely I think the answer is only two. First choose friendship and the second choose both simultaneously, friendship as well as courtship. But what is highly unlikely is that one does not choose either or rather does not choose friendship. Any human who lives a normal life on this earth must have a friendly relationship with a friend or a friend. Just maybe the intimacy of friendship is different, some are very close and some are mediocre.

---

---

There is an anecdote that describes the striking differences between the two types of relationships that are very familiar to many people. Anecdotes are "Boyfriends will most likely be ex-boyfriends, but friends will never be ex-friends". What does it mean? Courtship is very likely to end in the middle of the road, whereas friendly relations are very rare to end, even though we can not close our eyes that there is also friendship that ends because it is caused by various factors, especially if the cause is a difference in principle of life. Although in truth I am convinced, the friendship is actually not ended, only "intimacy" alone is reduced or just become an ordinary friend. But it seems everyone will agree that friendship is much better than courtship, be it from a religious, emotional, and social point of view. Until finally I dare to conclude that dating is negative and friendship is a positive thing.

It takes a long explanation if we want to compare the positive or negative between the relationship of courtship and friendship, but in this paper I will discuss only a few things that really distinguish between courtship and friendship. What is it? Let's read the first paragraph of my writing. In a dating relationship there will always be a process to start that usually young people term it with the word shoot, the way and the place can vary. Some make poetry as well as read it, give a flower, dinner with romantic atmosphere, and much more. But how does friendship begin? As far as I can remember, I have many friends from my childhood, elementary, junior high school and up to now. And I never felt there was a process or kind of joint pledge that I, you, and we all started today and also this moment, started a friendship.

Likewise also friendship with my two best friends, two human children who I feel very lucky to know and always close to them is Retno Putri Anggraeni and Alam Syah Pratama, our friendship that Retno say like a cocoon and holds an agreement "There is no lie between us", there is absolutely no process for "Getting Started with Friends". That is, a tie of friendship in general never begins, but it happens by itself. Unlike the relationship of courts where there is a #STARTED process that when two people are expressing feelings of love or affection, friendship there is absolutely no such thing. Everything happens by itself. Not that there is no feeling of mutual affection, it is certainly there or it is, but the friendly people express their affection in another way. They become great motivators when we're falling apart, helping to find solutions when we're stuck, celebrating victories when we become winners, and understanding each other when the ripples of conflict are coming, that's just a bit of the way many true friends express their love.

---

---

As the process always begins, in dating there is always the anniversary date to be celebrated and celebrated every year in various ways, even if the relationship does not end quickly. Also like the process that always #STARTED, courtship is very possible and very often #LAST. And when it ends, the process usually hurt, whether it's wrong on one side or both. While friendships, such as the unfounded process, there is no celebration to commemorate their anniversary, for them every day is a celebration to always go through the day to continue to make sense of life. And also like the process that does not #START, friendships #WILLNEVEREND.

For you guys who will never be ex-friends, thank you for coloring my life and helping me to continue to be a better person in achieving the goal of life. May our togetherness be eternal, not only to death, but also when we are revived in the hereafter.

---