zero missing puzzle pieces

you complete me... so goes one of the cheesiest lines in romantic-comedy movie history. i mentioned this because, i have been pondering on the subject of love and relationship recently, and this is one of the things i have come to refute.

we cannot complete others, nor can others complete us.

it is most tragic that we were brought up to think that we are all giant puzzles each with a missing piece that can only be filled by another person. don't get me wrong, i've fallen for this myth as well, and i thank life's recent circumstances (among others, realizing that the person you loved is not in love with you, but with the idea of being in loved and involved) for waking me.but have we for one moment grasped the undeniable truth that we are, each of us, complete on our own? that it is selfish if we look for completeness in the relationships we make?

this is not to say that this is the entire truth, after all, i might be wrong. yet the more i think about it, if we expect another person to complete us, we are setting ourselves up for disappointment, and, the people we love, for unreasonable expectations.

Love is always bestowed as a gift - freely, willingly and without expectation.
We don't love to be loved; we love to love.
- Leo Buscaglia