The ancient philosophers had several theories about the soul, and about love. One such
theory espoused the belief that at birth a soul is split in two and each half is given to different persons. The idea being that the soul wants to be whole again, so it will fight through anything in order to find its other half. When someone uses the phrase, “my better half,” this is the genesis of the phrase. Another theory is that souls are of the kindred variety, so your soul, while whole, has a direct companion soul in another person, and they act as magnets, wanting to connect to each other. Both theories presuppose that the soul is rational and acts for its own fulfillment, regardless of the body it is in. So, do either of these belief systems ring true? Does your soul really have a mate?
If you believe in soul mates, then you must believe that there is only one out there for everyone.
If you believe in soul mates, then you must believe that there is only one out there for everyone, and if you for some reason never match up with yours, that’s it. But does that mean you can’t be happy living some other life with someone who is not your soul mate? And what if you’ve settled down with someone (note the word “settled”), and your soul mate appears, what do you do then? I remember an episode of How I Met Your Mother where Ted goes to a dating service that is supposed to find him the perfect mate. He gets a match in the computer with a woman that is a 9.6 out of a possible 10, one of the highest ratings you can get. You might even say she could have been his soul mate, but she was engaged to marry another man. When Ted goes to see her anyway, he tells her that they are a 9.6 and how can she pass that up? She says that love turns someone into a 10, and that she loves the man she will marry. She turned away her possible chance to be with a soul mate in order to be with someone she knew she loved. Does that mean she won’t be happy, or that she will second-guess herself? Not necessarily, because maybe love does trump all.
Tales are told about eyes locking across a crowded room, but that’s usually lust instead…
Souls are tricky because we can’t fathom their depths, so how can we ever truly know if we’ve ever met our soul mate? Tales are told about eyes locking across a crowded room, but that’s usually lust instead, the body’s mechanism for letting off pheromones when a physical attraction occurs. There are others who say they know they’ve met their soul mate because of common interests, the fact that they can finish each others’ sentences, or some other contrived reason. I say “contrived” because, as I’ve said before, we can’t possibly know with certainty since souls are much deeper than our consciousness. But can love turn someone who isn’t our soul mate into our perfect mate? Is Ted’s soul mate right when she says not to regret what could have been if you have what you believe in right in front of you instead?
I don’t have an answer for it, but I don’t think you can just wait around your whole life for the other half of your soul to come running to you because 1) it may never happen, or 2) you may not even recognize it if it did. That’s really what it boils down to. If you find someone you love with all your heart, and who loves you back, maybe it doesn’t matter if they’re your soul mate, or maybe it overshadows it. Maybe someone shows up in your life later who might be your soul mate, but don’t even try to figure that out then. All it will do is cause turmoil for you, when you’ve already created the life you’ve dreamed about. Or you could even convince yourself that the person you love has to be your soul mate. Otherwise, how could your soul have been drawn to her?
I love the idea of having that perfect person out there that completes you in every way, the yin to your yang, and the finisher of your thoughts, but do they have to also share your soul. Nope. What do you think?
Sam
A soul cannot be shared. We are not born with one, we build it as we live by doing good. Our Creator tells us this in The Revelation of Arès. He says that we are body, mind and soul and that the three will be reunited in His Day.
As far as being a couple goes, I think it is the will to make it work that is the most important. Since we are living persons, we evolve and even if two people were a perfect match as one time, that could change if they don’t pay attention.
I agree that people change, and relationships shift. It’s why we work hard at maintaining them.
I don’t believe in soul mates, but i do believe in kindred spirits. and i believe love is the highest power.
I find the idea of soul mates intriguing, like angels and cowboys. Kindred spirits are another story. I believe we can have many of them and we know it when we’ve found them.
I vote for multiple soulmates. You know, I found that I share lots of things regularly described as sign of finding your other half with my best friends mother… I hope she is not The One. That would be depressing. And, lets be honest, my multiple personality disorder needs more then one 🙂
It’s not a disorder if you embrace it. And I love the idea of multiple soulmates. It wouldn’t make things so bleak if you thought you lost your only one. There’s just another one out there to pick up the pieces. And yes, I think your best friend’s mother is The One. Get used to it. 🙂