Welcome to Gaia! ::

I have to say that I do in fact believe in soulmates.

damnit, i had my wall post almost done, but hit the darn backspace. drats. i'll jus thave to start over

m-w.com's definition of soulmate is pretty lame. i like the individual definitions of the parts instead.
soul = the immaterial essence, animating principle, or actuating cause of an individual life
mate (v) = to join or fit together
to me, this sounds like a soulmates are two people who can form a union in thought and drive for a common purpose. though each may have their own individual methods, the reason each gets up in the morning to execute is a shared feeling. in this sense, there can certainly be a number of soulmates in one's life.

when you're talking about a romantic soulmate, that obviously includes shared beliefs in the more intimate areas of love, sex, spirituality, family and so on and so forth. again, individually, they may execute in slightly different ways, but if the end goal remains intact and unafflicted, it's all good.

"meant to be" is a tougher thing to tackle. fated or destined to finding that one is certainly a matter how one's faith or religion defines it, but that's certainly only part of the equation. if you did find that one you can spend your whole life with fate? in hindsight, it might be. if however things go sour, is it really fate that's kicking you in the shins?

when it comes down to relationships, every single one of them, be it a social acquitance or the love of your life, is a constant battle, with the more valuable relationships being the most difficult ones. every relationship has its low points and unfortunately, it sometimes gets dirty. at that point, we can either take what comes and deal with it, choose to recognize the valley you're in but also remember that common driving force that binds you together to keep that soulmate mentality alive long enough to wade through the muck, or let ourselves get pulled down so far that your fortitude starts to wain and you start taking pop shots at everything from fate to your soulmate him/herself, not realizing it's always your choice on how to react to a situation.

i think soulmates can really be summed up with that last question posed. sure, you can go to the ends of the earth with someone, but you'll only be happy going there if that's where you both want to go.

I believe in soulmates most definetly. I've found mine and he drives me bonkers! lol

Well I must say that I do belive in soul mates, not soul mate. I do really belive that you are pulled to a person. I guess I tend to live my life very... feircly. I am an extremly passaiont person. I cant spell worth a damn but I can love. It is strange that I found this thread when I did, because I ran into an ex from a long time ago. I was with her for 2 years and loved her veyr much, but as with alot of my exs she was not done living it up to be tied down to one person. So she left me and now she is married as has 2 kids. She told me something very odd when i saw her, "damn you, why did i have to ever see you again?!" I asked her why she would say something like that to me. Well she and i talked for a long time over coffee and I found out that see was married and all that. I said that was great and she said the part that shocked me. She told me that she was happy enough but that she has never been loved as strongly as i loved her. She said that we where soul mates and she hoped that she would never see me again, because seeing me brought all those emotions back. I guess in a way I am her soul mate because it is the same with me, once I love someone I always love them.
I guess that is why I belive that there are many "soul mates" out there not just one. Dont ever settle for someone that is not perfect to you. And I mean perfect with all the flaws. Perfection does not mean with out any problems, I mean they are perfect to you and for you. I still leave my socks out at night and dont always put them away, but she does. My wife loves me and to her I am perfect. And despite all her odd habits she is perfect to me too............
I can only hope that I will remain that way in her eyes and heart for all time.
I guess it is true, love should always end with hope,
it is only through hope that love can live on.
AntoniaMerEnfant, very very true words