True Love: Does It Really Exist?

If you're a hopeless romantic like I am, than your answer is probably yes, true love does exist. But does it, really? Do we put so much of our time and energy into finding the "one" for us, that we pass up some really great potentials just because we feel they don't fit into our image of the perfect person? True Love equals our soul mate, someone that we love unconditionally for the rest of our lives. Is it even possible to be "in love" with another person until the day that you die? Or do you just grow to tolerate them and feel comfortable with them, as you feel with a parent or sibling?
Look at the divorce rate in this Country right now. They say every year about 2.4 million people get married; however, every year, about 1.2 million people divorce. If true love really does exist, how is it possible that almost half the percentage of marriages end up in divorce? Is it because we go into a marriage, expecting the infatuation and excitement to stay forever? Obviously, it's going to fade. After a few years, we are no longer going to surprise one another; our hearts are no longer going to drop when the person walks into a room. We are going to just grow accustomed to them always being around, and we will appreciate them for that if they are doing right by us. So where does this misconception come from that we will be happily in love for all eternity?
I blame the movies. Most of us watch romance movies to fill a void inside of us. We want that perfect person to chase after us, give us everything, make us fall in love. More than anything, we want that happy ending. Take "The Notebook" for example. Here are two people, "destined" to be together. They meet one summer when they are both kids, fall hopelessly in love, and than become seperated. 7 years has passed, they have both seemed to move on with their lives. But when they finally see each other, they instantly fall in love all over again. We then see them as an old couple; She has alzehemers disease. Yet, she somehow is able to remember him, and they die together in bed. We would call this, "true love." And yes, it's nice. It's nice to watch, and it's nice to hope for and wish for that kind of love in reality. But when it doesn't happen, we are disappointed and feel like our relationships are fake and lacking. This results in a large number of people who divorce. They are simple unsatisfied with the lack of "movie love" their marriages have.
Us hopeless romantics are constantly searching for that type of love, the love that will get us through any impossible situation, and the love that will never fade away. Instead of trying to work on a relationship that seems to be going bad, we just decide to give up all together thinking if it's true love, you wouldn't have to work so hard at it. And that is simply not the case.
I believe the definition of true love isn't love that is perfect. True love is recognizing the many imperfections, and still wanting to be with the person, still fighting your hardest to make the relationship work because you couldn't picture not having them in your life for even one day. True love is about having many differences and disagreements, but still respecting and caring deeply about the person in the end. It is something that we want to hold on to, no matter what. It is not about being perfect or having the perfect relationship. Perfect is not the definition of true love, if anything, it's the complete opposite.
So will we ever really know when we found our one and only "true love"? Probably not. We go through relationship after relationship always telling ourselves that person is the one for us. But the truth is, we don't really know. And we probably won't lay eyes on someone for the first time and just "know" that person is the one. Reality isn't like the movies. If you find someone who makes you laugh, makes you cry, makes you crazy, stick with them. If you can't imagine life without them in your life, don't give up no matter how hard things get. Love is supposed to challenge us, and every little argument or disagreement does exactly that. Who wants perfect when you can have passion? Couples who have healthy relationships find ways of working together, and this in and of itself could be considered a sign of true love.
Instead of turning to movies or books to try and find out what true love really means, make up your own definition of what YOU want true love to mean to you. You can achieve it if you're realistic about it's meaning. In my opinion love is the great obsession or passion for another sole being. The feeling that you cannot live without them, or you wouldn't imagine a world without them. They also fill you with joy. You even argue with this person, but always seem to get through. You look out for this person, and never let them in harms way. Once you feel that for another person, then you'll know the true meaning of love.