ThirstyFish

The coffee was decent, but not great, at the Izmir "Soulmate Coffee Shop".

A whopping 73% of Americans believe in soulmates - that there is one special person with whom they were meant to be together. That number is even higher, 94%, for never married Americans in their 20s. And sadly, those who believe in soulmates are 150% more likely to end up divorced.

The "match made in heaven" story sells. It's everywhere. It's the theme of thousands of movies, books, fairy tales, tv series, magazine articles and plays. Cinderella finds her soulmate and lives happily ever after. No wonder there are so many hopeless romantics out there. But, attentive, caring and responsible couples who understand that marriage is lifelong affair seem to do better than the pure romantics.

They say, one can always prove whatever one believes. It's mind-boggling to me how many base their "proof" of the existence of their soulmate on the Cinderella story. Or that others disprove it using statistics! Sadly, most wouldn't recognize it if their soulmate fell on their lap.