Platonic friendships and intimate relationships–can you connect the two? No? Well, let us help and guide you through it.

First, you meet a person and are possibly physically attracted to them. Maybe you noticed some things about them or just bumped into them and started making conversation. Either way, you’ve now acknowledged that the other exists.

After the “greet and meet,” you discover a connection and you continue to build something beautiful–a friendship.

Now, let’s pause while we tell you what friendship requires: honesty, trust, support, kindness, generosity and love.

Sound familiar? Well, that’s because those same traits are among the many characteristics of an intimate relationship.

During the friendship stage, you learn a person’s likes/dislikes, pet peeves, emotions, aspirations and much more.

Now, if this friendship grows and the two become best friends, what shall happen next? They soon discover their mutual affection, and decide to try their hands at a relationship.

“What qualities do you look for in a best friend?” Mister Cullen, a blogger of Hub Pages, writes to his readers. “These same qualities should also be found in your spouse. A successful marriage is one where you can be free and be yourself without any restrictions.”

We’re not saying go and get married as soon as you choose to be together. We’re just simply attempting to demonstrate how the two correlate. After all, friendships are considered to be relationships.

Without constructing a friendship, how could one expect a real intimate relationship to succeed? You have to trust each other like best friends, be honest with each other like best friends, love each other like best friends and be able to have a deeper connection other than just sexual.

Friendships are there to help get you through hardships

Intimacy contributes love to the heart and companionship to the lips

Together both relationships have potential to soar into the sky

As they have no limits, they can go very low or extremely high

To be best friends means to be there for one another

But to be lovers is a vow to take things even further

True friendships give birth to true love

And opens doors to intimate blessings from above

Not sexual or physical, something emotional and mental

A genuine connection, something developmental

Please listen to these words and take heed to what we say

Friends before lovers, no matter the cliché