The perfect partner

What is considered a perfect partner? When I was a teenager, I had a list of attributes inside my head regarding my future partner. At that time, the thought had never crossed my mind that I might never find any man, let alone “the perfect man”. Why would I? I grew up on rom-coms and I just assumed that everyone meets someone and they end up living happily ever after.

As I grew up, I started meeting my fair share of prospective partners. I also started noticing how relationships were not as straightforward as I so foolishly presumed. You don’t just run into the perfect person and then everything in your life just magically falls into place. There are times when you even meet the perfect person and it still does not work out. This brings us back to our initial question. What constitutes this perfect partner?

For a very long time I envisioned my perfect man as this person who would like the same things as me. This trait would always be at the top of my list and I would focus more on the likes and dislikes of the person rather than on the person themselves. If I found out we both somehow liked the same music, I would end up considering the person as my soul mate and would immediately start planning our future together. Personality-wise, I’d go for someone who had a similar sense of humour as me and for some reason being a musician or just being a part of the music community in some way was a very important factor for me. But, these character traits definitely did not build the perfect person when they were all put together.

Now, that I’ve seen my fair share of disappointments, I believe I know enough to say that there is no such thing as a “perfect” partner. But, what makes a good partner then? According to me, it’s the person with whom you feel comfortable enough to be yourself with. It doesn’t matter if they don’t like the same things as you as long as you share a similar view of life. The only thing you need to have in common with your partner is your mutual respect for each other and you’re good to go. 

Tasnim Odrika likes pineapple on pizza and is willing to fight anyone who opposes her on this. Reach her at odrika_02@yahoo.com