Alright, ladies and gents — I know that each and every one of you has read this sort of thing before. I know that any idea I may present in this article has already been covered. But then again, no idea is truly original. Everything has already been said and done before in some fashion, so y’know what? I’m getting married in a week, so I’m gonna embrace all the stereotypes and clichés head-on! So strap in and brace yourselves, cuz there’s gonna be a lot.

I’ve already mentioned this recently in a previous article, but the fact and truth remains that you will never be able to predict where the love of your life will come from. And honestly, though this may not feel true for a lot of us most of the time — that's really how it should be.

Can you honestly tell me that our lives would be better if we could somehow tell when we would meet our “other half”? Sure, you could argue that it would make more sense logically--that random, nervous dating could be entirely eliminated in favor of unflinching, single-option surety. If we’re talking about avoiding pain (which dating and the nervous unsureness of waiting certainly brings), this would definitely be the best way. But I would also argue that it would be the most boring way to live.

See, I really think that not knowing everything that’s to come is part of what makes our lives truly human, and truly worth living. What is life without the unknown, without variety or surprise? In fact, it is exactly those infinite surprises and possibilities that led me to a potentially controversial viewpoint: there is no “love at first sight” or “soul mate.”

I’m not saying that isn’t possible to be immediately arrested and enraptured with someone from the moment you lay eyes on them, but I can’t call that “love.” Love takes time and intimate knowledge, above anything else, and those cannot be achieved in the blink of an eye when you first see someone. And if we could know exactly who we would live our lives with, then I would say that soul mates exist. In that case, there would only ever be you and that other person, with no doubt in your mind or random chance to struggle with. However, the fact that we cannot know who we will love above all others leads me to believe that any number of people exist that we could happily spend the rest of our lives with. There is no fated one, just the one that you happen to encounter, and for whatever reason, decide to choose and make into that fated one for yourself. In another life, another version of things, it might have been someone else entirely. One reason that I really like this idea is that it means we are truly not alone in this world. It seems to imply that there is an entire host of people that could be perfectly suited for us to live our lives with — not one single person that you must seek out, but an unknowable number of people in the world that could feasibly connect with you.

But we have no way of knowing that for sure. All we can be aware of is this current life that we are living, and take it for all that it is worth. In the meantime, if your “fated one” hasn’t arrived yet, be patient. You’ll find them eventually. Keep an open heart and an open mind towards everyone who enters your life because you really never know who it is that you’ll end up spending the rest of forever with. Don’t despair in the unknown of it — revel in it. Let it make you feel truly alive.