I was once naïve enough to think that unrequited love is the worst kind of love. What could possibly be more soul-crushing than pouring all your love into a person and watching them pass it on to someone else? What could possibly be more heart-wrenching than writing love letters for a person who thought of someone else while reading them?

Then I met my soulmate. Our first conversation felt like two old friends catching up after a long time and picking up from where they left off. It seemed as if our souls had known each other in a different life and had now recognized each other in a surreal backdrop.

How lucky do two people have to be to fall for each other at exactly the right time in exactly the right way? We were the lucky ones for a moment in time that I wish had stood frozen. We defied the odds.

Then we said goodbye. Our first conversation became our only conversation in person. We slowly drifted apart until we both decided it was better to walk our separate paths than to keep causing each other pain.

I am now wise enough to know that the worst kind of love is actually the love with the right person at the wrong time. It is the love with the person they call ‘The One That Got Away.’ It is the love that is mutual but evanescent.

We think when we are young that we will connect with many people across our lives. It is only as we grow older that we realize how rare it is to find someone who understands our mind and soul. We have become so accustomed to wearing our masks that it feels almost strange to meet someone that we do not have to hide from in any way.

I have always held the belief that there is no such thing as right timing. Someone will either want to meet you halfway across the bridge or they will find excuses to keep you waiting.

But what if this person is too scared to step on the bridge because they have been pushed over the edge before? What if they are hesitant to take a leap of faith because they have not been caught before?

It is not your job to convince anyone to meet you halfway across the bridge. It is also not your job to keep waiting if it impinges on your mental peace. You have every right to walk away when the wait becomes unbearable.

But what if you cross paths with the right person once again? What if your soul recognizes their soul all over again? What if the second goodbye hurts as much as the first one?

You find yourself hoping that the stars will align this time around and love will finally fall in your favor. Perhaps you will be able to sit with them and laugh over the pain you caused each other in the past. Perhaps you will bring back the one that got away.

Or perhaps not.

Perhaps you would let them go this time for the sake of their own happiness. You would leave behind the toxicity and bitterness while embracing peace and acceptance. You would wish them the best for their future and remember them in your prayers.

We are not always supposed to end up with our soulmates and we can find solace in that fact. At least we were lucky enough to meet them. We know that they exist.

Perhaps you were meant to meet the right person once again so that you could save your memories from being tarnished forever. Perhaps so that you could remind yourself that you did not imagine them. They were real.

They were the most real being you have ever known.