When you realize that you are in love with your best friend, it is jarring.

A riot of thoughts assail your mind about what this means.

You worry about whether this is going to hurt your friendship with him.

Having known him for several years, you are terrified of jeopardizing it in any way.

Yet, you can’t help the fact that you are in love with him.

Every day is filled with thoughts about the love you feel for him.

So much of you wants him to feel likewise about you.

But, you are terrified of the prospect of bringing it up.

You are anxious about ruining the friendship you have with him.

Hesitantly, you have confided with a few friends and family about your feelings for him.

They are all over the place on what you should do.

And you end up going to bed that night as confused as you were before soliciting their opinions.

Strangely enough, you are hoping that he gets wind of how you feel about him on his own and comes to you to talk about it.

This would relieve so much of the pressure you are dealing with, lifting this burden off of your shoulders.

Conversely, you are fearful that were he to bring it up to you, it would only make your friendship with him awkward.

This leaves you at a dead end.

What should you do?

Tell him about how you feel about him.

I know, it’s terrifying.

The thought of it sets your heart aflutter in a nerve-racking pattern and causes sleepless nights.

Here is the brute reality.

By not telling your best friend in life that you are in love with him, he won’t know.

Being that you have been best friends for years, it isn’t out of the question that he is in love with you too.

There are lots of people in romantic relationships who started off as best friends.

It makes sense if you think about it.

A best friend has seen you at your best and worst.

He knows what makes you happy and what makes you sad.

He has been supportive of you in the darkest of times and has never left your side.

A best friend has already met your friends and family, and has been accepted and approved by them.

A best friend is aware of your long-term goals and has probably already had a hand in aiding you in achieving said goals.

He has been your cheerleader, encouraging you to keep going for what you want out of life.

In many instances, a best friend is the best candidate for a romantic relationship.

This is why so many of these relationships transition into romantic ones.

Whenever there is a delay in this transition, it has to do with one or either of the friends already being involved in a romantic relationship with someone else.

As a result, the timing is off, leaving a number of these best friend relationships going for years without a transition to romance.

Is your best friend currently single?

Are you single too?

If so, this is the perfect time to tell him about your feelings for him.

In procrastinating, you run a risk of him getting involved with someone new and no longer being available to you.

Eschew overthinking all of this.

As long as you have a strong friendship with him that has withstood the test of time, telling him that you are in love with him won’t hurt it, irrespective of whether he feels likewise.

If he doesn’t feel likewise, be mature enough to thank him for his honesty.

Follow this up by cracking a joke to lighten the mood.

Carry on with your friendship without missing a beat.