day no. 17,327: what brings us together today

“Nearly all marriages, even happy ones, are mistakes: in the sense that almost certainly… both partners might have found more suitable mates. But the real soul-mate is the one you are actually married to.” — J.R.R. Tolkien, in a letter to his son

There is no such thing as the one. There are better matches than others, but at the end of the day, there is the one you chose and your commitment to your choice.

"First a man must choose his love, and then he must love his choice" — Henry Smith

If you choose a spouse, you also choose to stop looking for another. Once you have said, "I do," and she has said, "I do too," you have promised to stop considering other options. With respect to all other eligible prospects, you are saying, "I don't." Every "yes" is a "no." To say, "Yes," to this way is to say, "No," to that way. To say, "Yes," to this person is to say, "No," to that person.

"Many a man has been lucky in marrying the woman he loves. But he is luckiest in loving the woman he marries." — G.K. Chesterton

Your soul-mate is the one you are married to. No better match can come along after the fact. Once the fact of the marriage exists, there is no better option than the one you call your spouse.