Soul mates

People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that's holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life. A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. - Elizabeth Gilbert; Eat, Pray, Love, p 149.

Is it possible to have a few soul mates? Because it feels like I have one for this one time, and then that person leaves, and that's ok, because another person becomes it, and the cycle goes on. I have never thought of one as the one person that is going to stick around forever, although it is nice when they do. Those people are eventually given the labels friends by me. I will admit that it is hard to replace history, if only for the mere fact that I don't have to explain to you what happened then, I could just use the phrase "remember that time?".

And from those who left, some come back, and it is awesome for most of the time. This is why we insist on space, don't we? So that we can, like, grow, you know, in our own terms and our own schedule. And it's not like we can't grow together, of course we can, but it's more like our growth rates are independent of each other. You being in my life has been a catalyst for my growth, and hopefully vice versa, but you, yourself, cannot make me grow. That is something that I have to do myself, because there is no other way around it. I can't short-cut the process and neither can you. We all wish we could, but some lessons take time, and most of the time, growing takes time. And sometimes, despite the best of intentions, growing doesn't happen.

We are back to square one, at a different space, on a different time.