Soul Friends?

"A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake.  But to live with a soul mate forever?  Nah, too painful.  Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave.  A soul mate's purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, and make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life."

- Elizabeth Gilbert

Often when little girls grow up, Disney, fairy tales, and story books lead us to believe that there is a "soul mate" out there with whom we'll fall happily ever after in love with.  I find the thought while sweet and endearing, I must say, when I came across Elizabeth Gilbert's point of view on "soul mates", I couldn't help but agree, with a slight modification of my own point of view. 

I feel that, if there is such a thing as "soul mates", why put yourself in a place of jeopardizing what you have with that person?  So I would like to rephrase the term "soul mates", into "soul friends".  If you have a "soul friend", think about it, you have many new options in front of you other than the let down of not achieving your happily ever after ending.  After all, the divorce rate is already above 50%.  Some people walk into our lives for only a brief time, others hang in there a little while longer, but have you ever seen a couple of old ladies or men who've been friends for most of their lifetime?  It's rarely seen.  Why is that?  Do too many people marry their "soul mate" and when the day to day life becomes too hard with no breathing room, they end up cursing the beauty of what they first fell in love with?

There's nothing wrong with loving your friends, in fact I find it much easier to love a friend versus a significant other.  With a friend, there is no pressure, no financial problems, no parenting problems, no meddling in laws, no keeping up with the Jones, you don't have the stresses that are put onto a marriage.  So why not keep your "soul mate" as your "soul friend" instead?