But believing in predetermined destiny is limiting.

It leaves little room for adventure + what life may want to give you. What if The One isn’t who you thought they would be?

Love isn’t always syrupy sweet kisses + walking off into the sunset. Sometimes the purpose of a soulmate is to tear down your walls, shake you awake, reveal new parts of yourself.

They become a mirror that exposes new dimensions of you, parts that you may relish in or shrink from. Soul-mates give you the opportunity to notice personal obstacles. And then actually do something about them.

They can force you to your own leading edge.

To grow.

Expand.

Develop.

But all that emotional fever does not guarantee that they are your life partner. Often riveting romances grip us in their clutch just to introduce the prospect of ruthless awareness. Introspection. They make us so loony + out of control that we have to evolve + transform.

Sometimes it’s their job to break your heart open. And then leave.

I’m convinced that our cultural understanding of soul-mates and “The One” are small, limiting + incomplete. Lacking breath + depth. 

We don’t give “soulmates” enough credit for their potential emotional upheaval + transformative waves. Soul-mates are not necessarily forever. Sometimes they come into our lives just to introduce us to a demon we need to beat.  And then they leave.

And we must muster up the courage to let them go. Because they were never supposed to stay. Realize that they were the messenger + now we are left with the task of growing and evolving.