By Tatum Mitchell | Opinion Editor
Soulmates don’t exist, but if they did, you probably wouldn’t find yours anyway. There’s about 7 billion fish in the sea, and your soulmate most likely isn’t one of them.
Quick disclaimer: I’m not the Grinch of love. This is coming from a hopeless romantic who just happens to have a logical outlook on “true love.” It’s a complicated combination, I know.
Merriam Webster defines a soulmate as someone perfectly suited to another. Soulmates can be applied to platonic and romantic relationships, but for this column’s sake, I’m sticking to the romantic aspect.
Former NASA roboticist Randall Munroe wrote a book called “What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions.” In it, he unpacks multiple concepts using logical equations, one of them being the mathematical probability of soulmates finding each other.
The rough conclusion is you’ll find true love in one lifetime out of 10,000, and that’s assuming your soulmate is alive and in your age range.
Some people argue you can have multiple soulmates in one lifetime. My argument is you could label anyone you’re attracted to and have compatible personalities with as a soulmate.
Saying your partner is your soulmate is just a compliment; there’s no real truth behind it. The universe didn’t bring that person into your life because you were “meant to be.” You met them, got along, fell in love and worked for a healthy relationship.
I think being in love is an amazing experience, and romance books are my favorite by far. Some people are incredibly compatible and probably even have a rom-com-worthy love story, but even an against-all-odds match doesn’t prove anything.
I think everyone can, and should, feel the sparks of love and have a happy ending. I just don’t believe in wishing for a soulmate to come along when there could be a great love right in front of you.
Maybe there’s one perfectly compatible person in the world for you, and maybe you’ll never meet your perfect person in this lifetime. That being said, I believe there is no such thing as a perfect romance. No individual is perfect, and no relationship is perfect.
Bumps in the road are completely normal, so don’t expect perfection from your partner, and don’t expect there’s a perfect person waiting out there for you. Take it one day at a time and keep an open mind. Even if a potential partner doesn’t meet your ideal image for a soulmate, they just might surprise you.
Myth-busting soulmates is a hard pill to swallow, but despite this reality, love is a beautiful thing. You can be a hopeless romantic and still understand the logical aspects of it all.
This is tough love, but it’s true.
