The Person of the Soul, Not of Happiness

Never let go of the person with whom you don't have to hide anything or change who you are. The one before whom you can reveal yourself exactly as you are—that is the right person for you. The one in whose presence you never feel embarrassed about anything, whether it's your past or your present—only they have the power to keep you well. The one with whom your most vulnerable sides are safe, who doesn't mock even your terrible decisions—never go looking for anyone better than them.

The person who easily accepts how you are in your most disheveled state, or how you look when your hidden wounds surface, and still wants to live with you—call them a friend. You don't need to present yourself perfectly before them; even looking into their eyes brings great peace. The one who tolerates your childishness, who listens attentively to your strange stories, who never grows tired of your annoying behavior—call them a friend. You can easily find a partner if you want, but you won't easily find a friend. Do you know why there's so much sorrow in households? Because people very easily become husbands or wives, but can never become friends even in a lifetime. Only to a friend can you tell everything, show everything. Only before a friend can you lay bare all your weaknesses and darkness. Those who have such a friend can remain well even if no one else in the world loves them.

You can clearly tell who wants you only for physical gratification. If that's how it is from your side too, then it's fine. But if it's not like that, then going to them again and again means pushing yourself toward more pain. After a person dies, others dig their grave, but before dying, they dig their own grave. No one can easily save a person who lives by constantly killing themselves.

Seek not a person of pleasure, but a person of the soul. Finding such someone is the most difficult task in the world. If you ever find such a person, hold onto them with your life. It's far more peaceful to truly love someone real than to be the fake husband/wife or boyfriend/girlfriend of someone fake. At the end of the day, people don't want to live in romance, not even in love—they just want to live in peace.