Looking for Love

Is there one true love for everyone? Yes, says a majority of Americans. In a recent national survey about matters of the heart, 60 percent of those surveyed believe everyone has a soul mate.

Young adults, more than any other group, have faith that Mr. or Ms. Right is out there. The survey says that 77 percent of 18- to 24-year-olds believe everyone has a soul mate waiting for them.

"The survey results underscore the belief people have in the idea of one true love," says Sean K. Murphy, author of the novel, "The Spirit Man," and the survey sponsor. "A majority of Americans -- men and women equally -- believe everyone has a soul mate. And when they find them, they commit to them."

Nearly three-quarters of the true believers say they have found their soul mate, while the remaining quarter is still out there looking. Those who say they are with their soul mate now are married and have children.

And forget all the hype about the Internet or matchmaking services being the ticket to true love. More than 90 percent of Americans who have found their soul mate say they discovered them right under their noses. Half of them say they found their soul mate by happenstance. Fewer than 10 percent met their match at school, and 17 percent say they fell in love at work. Only two percent met on the Internet, and fewer than 10 percent met their soul mate on a blind date.

Murphy says the findings contradict those who would say romance is dead. "We believe in love, and we are willing to search for that one special person we’re meant to spend our lives with."

Murphy’s novel, "The Spirit Man," traces the journey of one young man who finds a way to return to his past and undo a tragedy that separated him from his soul mate. "We all have thoughts about our past and things that might have been. This book explores what would happen if we could go back and correct those mistakes," Murphy said. "The Spirit Man" is available at Amazon.com and local bookstores.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The soul mate study was conducted among 1,000 adult Americans on behalf of "The Spirit Man" by Market Facts, an independent national research firm. It has a confidence factor of +/- 5 percent.