Friendzoned: Is being just friends really impossible?

A conversation with an acquaintance today got me thinking about kindness and what it means in today's hi-tech/highly narcissistic (selfie anyone?) generation.  

A post on his social networking site said that kindness has become so rare that some people mistake it for flirting. While I posted a similar quote on my Instagram account a few months back, I couldn't help but wonder, in today's casual & "look-at-me" generation, have we truly forgotten about the true meaning of kindness? Do we only extend it to get something or to feel good about ourselves? 

My dream love story have been similar to Joey & Dawson, one built on a lifetime of friendship and blossomed into something real and rare overnight. And while they didn't end up together, the friendship remained, and that is a beautiful story all on its own. 

I never believed in love at first sight stories simply because to fall in love, one must have a deeper well to fall into,  depth, not shallowness.

Also, growing up with more male cousins and in an environment filled with men made me see them as friends. It wasn't difficult for me to fall into a conversation and eventually a friendship with them simply because I always felt I was one of the boys. 

They were often raw, and honest and I deeply admired that. It just got tricky in College and soon after. To this day, I've had many conceited men think I was flirting simply because I followed, liked or added them as a friend. 

Is that how shallow we have become? Have we magnified ourselves to the point of no return? Can't it be just like in pre-school where we could all be friends regardless of? When did we start rejecting friendships just because we didn't see that person in that way? 

doesn't life become more fulfilling when we welcome relationships instead of rejecting them? Shouldn't we be happy when someone offers friendship and not think much of it? Shouldn't we not even think of that until someone actually says it to our face? 

Life is made more beautiful by the tapestry of friendships in our lives, but if we continue to think, wonder, and obsess we will never be able to enjoy them or even live to the fullest. 

Maybe it's time to put down the "what if" hat and simply accept friendships for what it is - an offer to share interests together, nothing more, nothing less.