Soulmates

Do you believe in soulmates? I most certainly do. However, I don't believe that there is only ONE person in the ENTIRE world that is someone's soulmate. I personally believe that I have and have had several. It's someone that you meet and immediately have an unmistakable connection, something so intense that it's hard to explain in words, but when you're together it just makes perfect sense. I also don't believe that a soulmate is necessarily, though it can be, someone that you have an intimate relationship with. I have even had female soulmates (and yes, I am heterosexual), and I also think that soulmates are like any other relationship - sometimes just for a reason, sometimes a season, and only on rare occasion, for a lifetime.

I met a man through work many years ago now that recently sent me a message. He said that though the years come and go, our short moments together "linger and matter." My response to him was that he was able to sum up something in 2 sentences that would have taken me years to express in the same profound way. Times spent with him are filled with unbelievable laughs, unparalleled conversation, and unwavering simplicity amid the complexities of life and external relationships. Now, that's what I call a soulmate - someone who can erase the troubles of your life, at least for a moment in time anyway.

The truth is that I don't believe it's physically possible for a spouse to encompass everything that you desire and need. It's important to have other relationships in your life to help fill in the gaps and to be understanding of your partner's need to have the same fulfillment in other areas of his/her life. The key is determining what is essential for you to have in a spouse, and that is entirely unique. For example, at one time I thought that it might be possible for me to marry someone that couldn't dance well. It may seem like an entirely minute detail to you, but I've recently discovered that it is absolutely necessary that my significant other not only now how, but be very adept at the dance floor. I can't imagine myself seriously with anyone that doesn't enjoy dancing with me, which brings me to my next soulmate...

Over the summer, I decided to do something I had never done before - travel alone outside the country, and I had the most amazing experience. I chose a country that is native English speaking for my first trip, and I was only gone for an extended weekend. But what I came back with was truly irreplaceable - a more defined sense of purpose, a rekindling of the passion that is innate to my spirit, and a soulmate.

My Caribbean friend - well, we met on the dance floor, kind of. LOL He's certainly not the first man I've met while dancing, nor will he be the last. We spent all of 8 hours together maybe, but it was (and wasn't) enough for a lifetime. Sometimes you can have a connection with someone from across the room and be pulled in that direction for unexplainable reasons, and sometimes you simply sit down next to him/her because it's the last available seat in the room. Regardless of the reason, you are changed in drastic ways forever. And isn't that what life is all about?!