So then he asked me why I would want to be with someone who wasn’t motivated, edging toward success, and making it like him and I were. That was the one thing we had always thought we saw in one another. I considered this for a while and, for the first time, answered him honestly.
It wasn’t that he had other attributes that made up for these shortcomings. It was these shortcomings that attracted me to him in the first place. He was everything I couldn’t be, and while I recognize it is a myth the opposites attract, it is also true that sometimes we can’t be everything at once, and that’s why we drop thousands of dollars and waste countless Friday nights trying out other people to find someone out there who not only complements our strengths, but fills in those gaps where we are weak.
“I don’t need some rich, successful guy to take care of me,” I said to him, “I can take care of me. I need someone who understands me, and who cares about me, and who I can care about.” For the first time I was admitting to not only him, but myself, that I don’t need a business partner, I need a partner for everything else.
