The minute you settle for less than you deserve, you get even less than you settled for.

I recently watched a movie called "Prelude to a kiss", starring Meg Ryan and Alec Baldwin. It's an older movie, so I was surprised I had never seen it before. It was such a wonderful movie that truly touched me and opened my eyes. The message the movie sends is to love someone for their soul and nothing else, because spending your life with the right person means EVERYTHING. I know this all sounds very cliche, but what is the point of life if we aren't spending it with someone who truly completes us and brings us joy? I know so many people who settle, and it seems like such a waste of our already short lives.

I mean, if you really think about it, life is pretty rough. Not to be cynical, but the struggles in life are constant and sometimes we must wonder what the point of it is? If you have religious or spiritual beliefs, the answer to this question may be simple. But for people like me, who aren't really sure what happens after life or if anything happens after life, this is a much more difficult question to answer. So the way I see it, life is a struggle, but if there is any point to it all, it's to go through the struggles with someone who can bring a smile to your face and help you through it all; to turn the negative experiences into positive ones and make you see life in a way you would never see on your own. Here is a quote from the movie that really opened my eyes:

"Think about how we're born....and we go through the struggle of growing up and learning the multiplication tables and the name for everything. The rules. How not to get run over. Braid your hair. Pig Latin. Just all the effort in getting a job. Probably something you don't even like doing for not enough money, and that's if you’re lucky. That's if you’re not born in Calcutta or the U.S. without money. Then there's your marriage, having your own kids. You know? And your children are going through the same struggle all over again, only worse for them, because somebody's trying to sell them crack in the first grade by now. And all this time you’re paying taxes, your hair starts to fall out. And you’re wearing six pairs of glasses which you can never find. And you can't recognize yourself in the mirror. And if you live long enough, you finally get to watch everybody die. All your loved ones, your wife or your husband, your kids maybe. And you’re totally alone. And as a final reward for all this. You disappear. No one knows where."

I know it sounds pretty cynical, but it's true. Life seems to be a never-ending cycle of struggle, but a struggle for what exactly? So we can have money? But then what? We may have a nice house, car, nice things, but does that suddenly give life meaning? None of that stuff really matters in the end because looks fade away and possessions lose their importance. The one thing in life that never fades, with the right person, is the love you share with them.

So we all need to learn to love people for the right reasons and choose our partners wisely. Don't settle for anyone who brings you down, because life will do that enough on it's own. Be with someone who can make you smile even while tears are streaming down your face. Because to me, that makes all of the struggles in life worth it.