Whom Should I marry............

I don’t know. I don’t know who you should marry.

Instead, I can tell you I look very closely at who I surround myself with.
 

So much of my life and who I become is determined by my relationships - all of them: coworkers, friends, significant others.
 

I have learned that relationships should free me. By this I mean they should inspire me, nurture me, encourage me, support me, help me grow, open me up, make me better.

They should contribute to me amassing a large collection of people who love me.
 

They are not supposed to control me, limit me, suffocate me, trap me, put me down, isolate me, keep me from what I love, turn life into a constant, exhausting negotiation where it becomes increasingly difficult to find a sliver of happiness.
 

This is as far as I can go, because who you decide to marry is up to only one person, and that is you.
 
 - Dushka Zapata