At a young age, we start to form an idea of what a soulmate is. They are someone who completes us, a significant other, a Prince Charming, the person who we are supposed to spend the rest of our lives with.
However, as I have gotten older, I have also became more cynical and no longer believe in soulmates. At least not in the sense of a significant other. Now a soulmate is someone completely different to me.
Carried on from my childhood, a soulmate is someone who completes me, my other half. The person who understands me better than anyone else. The peanut butter to my jelly. The Chandler to my Joey. The person, who no matter how long we spend apart, it is as if nothing has changed when we are together. And this is not necessarily someone I will marry and spend the rest of my life with.
I found my soulmate in my best friend, which seems to be a common theme among people who have given up on finding that special someone. But I know that she is my special someone. She is the person who will always be there for me. The person who knows how to handle me at my worst, who knows how to dry my tears and who knows how my mind works.
That sounds like any best friend, but a soulmate is something special, something more than a best friend. A best friend can be all those things but you don't feel the same connection you feel when you find your soulmate. You know you find them when you do. You know there is something special that connects you. And you know they will remain in your life forever, even if it is not daily.
I always knew that my best friend was special, someone who would stick with me forever, but it wasn't until recently that I realized she was in fact my soulmate. We spent the longest time apart we have ever been separated. Four months. And it was as if I saw her an hour ago. As if we hadn't spent any time apart at all.
It is nice to think that a soulmate is a significant other, someone you will build a life and grow old with. But as we grow older, we realize how rare that truly is. Most people want to find their soulmate; they want to be with that special someone forever. They want to feel that deep kind of love that lasts a lifetime. But it may not even exist. It may all just be a hoax.
But soulmates are real. You just find them in unexpected places. Your sibling, your parent, your dog or maybe even your neighbor. There may be no such thing as a soulmate, but there is someone out there for everyone, someone who will get you, someone who will know how to help you when you don't know how to help yourself.
A soulmate is a hard concept to fully believe in 100 percent. But when you meet the one person you are intended to meet in your life, you will realize how special they are to you and your life will never be the same without them—because frankly, you refuse to live without them.
