A soulmate is defined as a person with whom one has a feeling of deep or natural affinity. Some think it's the person you spend your life with, whereas some believe that it's someone who comes into your life to teach you a lesson or make you a better person, and that once the lesson is learned, physical separation usually occurs because they serve no other purpose in your life.

I don't agree with either of these definitions. I believe that a soulmate is, yes, someone in which you share a natural affinity as well as someone who makes you a different person, however I believe a soulmate is much more than that. A soulmate doesn't make you a better person, however brings you to your own attention so that you can change your life, and rises with you as you change. A soulmate has seen you at your very worst and your very best, but loves you just the same. Your soulmate may not be your best friend, or maybe they are, however it is someone you connect with on a deeper level, someone you can be yourself around. It is someone you can share laughs with and the best of times, but also someone you can share tears with and who will hold you through the worst of times. I don't believe that your soulmate is your significant other, but someone who loves you unconditionally without the title placed on it.

"What is a soulmate? It’s like a best friend but more. It’s the one person in the world who knows you better than anyone else. That someone who makes you a better person. No, actually they don’t make you a better person. You do that by yourself because they inspire you. A soulmate is someone you carry with you forever. It’s one person who knew you, accepted you and believed in you before anyone else did or when no one else would. And no matter what happens, you’ll always love them and nothing could ever change that." - Dawson’s Creek

I believe a soulmate is someone who shows you everything that is holding you back, the first person you want to tell when something amazing happens. They are the only person you want to go to when something terrible happens. A soulmate is not someone who has time time for you when it's convenient, but makes time for you when it's not convenient.

A soulmate doesn't have to be someone you've known your whole life, I just met mine five months ago. A soulmate doesn't have to be someone who is your age, mine is two years younger than me. A soulmate isn't someone that you have to ask yourself, 'is this my soulmate?' for you just know that they are. A soulmate isn't someone you go looking for, it is someone who comes into your life unexpectedly. Mine was in my orientation group at school.

Whoever your soulmate is, it doesn't mean they are more important than anyone else in your life. They are important, of course, but it doesn't put them above your other friends and loved ones, it just puts your relationship with them on a deeper level, an indescribable one, oftentimes an unspoken one. We don't go around saying, "he/she is my soulmate," aside from those who truly believe the person they are dating is theirs. I think it's important to have a soulmate that isn't with you 247, that isn't the person you come home to every night and wake up to every morning. I'm not saying it's not someone you can't spend a ton of time with, however I think it's important to have a soulmate that you look forward to seeing when you get to see them, the one who, as you get older, you make time to have long phone calls with and make dinner plans with; the one you'd fly across the country to see every six months if you can.

I would end this article by saying something along the lines of 'choose your soulmate wisely,' however, we do not choose our soulmates. One day, someone will come into your life and you will just know. A true soulmate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet. They will tear down your walls and smack you awake, and they will be your soulmate forever.