What do you want in a life partner?

If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ‘em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss
- Rudyard Kipling

Not too long ago, a precious friend asked me what I wanted in a life-partner. You know, the crucial question: ‘What do you want in a woman’? I am positive that I have spent many nights thinking about this question. But, this time, I was stumped.
When I was younger and more idealistic, I wanted a woman who was strong, sassy, seductive, spiritual, sexy-to-no-end and savvy about the world and the work of her hands. Yes, everything had to start with the letter ‘s’ too! As I grew older, I became less judgmental. I have learned to focus on my own shortcomings.

But, today, it hit me. On my way across the living room, I realized the deepest thing about my heart. Rudyard Kipling’s words, for me, define the weakest possible points in this life. I believe they are inevitable. And I subconsciously prepare my mind in readiness for when the worst happens. My studying, my principles, my dreams are geared towards these thoughts.
Today, I realized that I want to spend my life with someone who will go down into the depths of sadness with me, and emerge again – with nothing, except each other, and a hope and a prayer.

Darling, when you ask, ‘what do you want in a woman’? My answer is this:
I want the better half of me – in every sense of the word.