[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/173007796" params="color=784f79&auto_play=false&hide_related=false&show_comments=false&show_user=true&show_reposts=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="300" align="center" iframe="true" /]The concept of soulmates is a sweet one, and possibly a romantic one. Soulmates can be BFFs, siblings, business partners, and, yes, lovers and life partners. They can even be the people we're compelled to speak with in the grocery-store line, never to be seen again.

Soulmates can be BFFS, siblings, business partners, lovers, life partners.

The process of connecting with someone who fits so well with you - like adjacent pieces of the same puzzle - has a dreamlike quality. There is a familiarity so instant and so deep that it's almost inexplicable. Almost.

Your Soul Contract Includes Soulmates

Before we're reincarnated into human form, we create and agree to a soul contract. That soul contract includes the soulmates with whom we'll be connected, in whatever way, and for whatever length of time, in our next life. One of those soulmates is meant to be our life partner.That life-partner soulmate won't complete you, a la Jerry Maguire. Instead, you'll complete each other in the sense that you're two halves of a whole; yin and yang; left brain and right brain. Together, you're in balance; apart, you're out of balance. You fit together perfectly. You fulfill each other on every conceivable level - a thought that might be, at this moment, inconceivable. Just imagine, though. Allow yourself to imagine how that might be, and feel.In an ideal situation, the person that we choose as our life partner is the soulmate intended for that role. In a less-ideal situation, we may fall in love with and commit to someone who seems to be that perfect fit, and yet isn't.It's possible that we may remain in that less-ideal relationship for the remainder of our lifetime; happy enough, and yet likely noting a longing for something we can't quite put our finger on. It's also possible that we may reach a point in that relationship when we meet that certain soulmate that we're meant to partner with on the life-partner level.In the case of that second possibility, we may be faced with a seemingly impossible dilemma; a choice that can't help but leave someone hurt. In that case, we may be faced with what could be some of the hardest work we've ever been called to do.Depending on our life-partner soulmate's situation, the choices are likely to include:

1. Stay in the less-ideal relationship and be faithful to that commitment;
2. Stay in the less-ideal relationship and have an affair (emotional, sexual, or both) with the soulmate;
3. Exit the less-ideal relationship in favor of being in relationship with the soulmate.

There's another choice that may be the hardest of them all: Exit the less-ideal relationship, even though our life-partner soulmate isn't available to us. Although it may be the hardest, it's arguably the one that most resonates with deep soul growth.The fourth choice calls for setting aside the human ego, with all its attachments, in order to fulfill not only our highest good, but that of our less-ideal partner, who is also without his or her life-partner soulmate. It's the most selfless choice, and has the potential to be the most rewarding.

What's your truth?

I'd love to know how - or if - this post resonates with you. Here are two questions to ponder, and perhaps to comment on:If you had a life partner that you discovered wasn't your life-partner soulmate, what choice might you make?If you believe you're in relationship with your life-partner soulmate, what do you remember about the first time you met? Did you know they were "the one"? Did they know you were?