166/365 Thought Catalog: You Should Fall In Love With Someone Who Inspires You

"There’s one trait that I continuously find myself coming back to when it comes to dating: inspiration.

I don’t really care how you spend your time. I mean I hope you have hobbies, and it’d be cool if we have some in common, but as long as you spend your time doing things you enjoy, that’s cool with me. I don’t really care about your education. Do I hope you have one? Absolutely, that’s important to me. But I understand that it isn’t for everyone. Do I care about your job? Nah. But please, please, have a job that you enjoy doing. That’s all.

I really should reiterate. Because I DO care. I care about each and every aspect of you, even the ones I don’t always want to care about or the aspects you wish I wouldn’t care about. I care to know you — and knowing you involves all of those finite details previously mentioned. What I’m saying is that you’ll deviate from what I always envisioned. You won’t have every characteristic I always thought that I wanted in a man. And that’s okay. But there’s one thing I need from you — one thing I really, truly value: I need you to inspire me.

Inspiration in its simplest form, really. I want you to inspire me to be a better person. To push myself — in my career, in my education, in my beliefs, culture, and values. I want you to inspire me to try things I always said I wouldn’t. To read books I never thought I’d like, to go to a place I never wanted to visit, to eat a food I always swore off. I want you to inspire me to be better. Every day. Because although self-motivation is important, sometimes our steam just runs out. Sometimes we need a person running alongside us, telling us we can keep going, that we can cross that finish line.

And I want to inspire you, too. I want to be able to push you. To stretch your limits and make you step outside of your comfort zone. Because inspiration is like a weed when you have the right amount. It grows wildly and quickly, and spreads throughout the surface. When it works, when it really works, we feed off of each other. We make each other better. We consistently try new things and pursue higher heights. That’s…well, that’s inspirational." 

— Stephanie Althoff