I don’t believe in soulmates either

I listened to an interesting little essay on NPR yesterday called “Economists don’t believe in Soulmates” by Dr. Betsey Stevenson.  Her philosophy is that people don’t marry because of romance, they marry because they have found someone that is worth investing in:

Searching for a spouse is very similar to searching for a job. There is not one perfect job for each of us, but there are clearly better and worse jobs. So we hunt, for a spouse and a job. When do we stop? When the offer in the hand is better than the likely offer in the bush.

I found this interesting – not because I think picking a husband is like picking a job.  But because I do think marriage is a decision based on commitments and investment, not romance and my foot popping up into the air when we kiss. 

I am lucky enough to have a husband whom I love and who is good looking.  But I picked him because of his commitment to Christ and his determination to work on our marriage, not because I think he is my soulmate.

I’m apparently much more aligned with the economists than Hollywood.