Loves Labor Lost

I read the other day that 94% of singles between the age of 20 to 29 believe in soul mates. This brought me to think about the reasons and ramifications for such a lofty percentage. First of all, we are all brought up to believe in true love. From The Notebook to The Beauty and the Beast, we are taught that love is in fact real and happens in all sorts of ways. Love is all around us in fact. But the thing is, I don't think we see it in real life as much as when we watch television or movies. How many times have we seen a couple and remark "they are perfect for each other! I just know they're going to be married"? How many times in our own relationship did we think we had "the one" only for it to end? I know this has a hint of bitterness to it and I don't want that to be the case. I know that love exists, I know that it is possible for two people to care about each other so much that they have never-ending, never faltering love. But in my experience, it's just not as common as we were led to believe. That meeting across a room, eyes locked, feeling of magic just doesn't happen to everyone. Some people think they are in love but only realize they were in fact in love with love. And maybe that's the problem. We are inundated with love stories from the start and all we have to go on is a series of fantasies and unreal expectations. So when we are lucky enough to love, we don't expect the day to day grind of it all. We never expect the "stupid fights" that turn two well meaning, otherwise rational people into screaming, red-faced animals. We never expect to hit the rough patches of insecurity, jealousy or just plain boredom. The movies do not contain scenes like that. And it leads us to believe that maybe, just maybe there could be something better out there. A relationship without all the petty bickering, or day to day issues. But the fact is, there isn't a couple out there that doesn't deal with that. That dream man or women doesn't exist, because no one is perfect. The thing some people fail to realize is that love is rare, it's unique. And despite it's inevitable problems it's something that you should hold on to and cherish. It's something you should fight for. There is no fairytale out there but there is magic to had. And when you don't work for it and stay true to it, you'll never achieve it. You'll always be chasing for the gold pot under the rainbow.