The quintessential truth is that we are all bound and determined to be in love.

But what happens after the first love, the second love and then the third love doesn’t work out?

Heartache.

Sadness.

Anger.

As bittersweet as a breakup with someone we love can be, it is the sweet we need to remember, not the bitter.

A friend told me that he was once so in love that he could foresee himself buried next to the object of his affection. But, one day, without warning and without choice, he lost the opportunity for that image to materialize.

But no matter what, he said that this person made him more beautiful inside and out.

You may continue loving someone with all your heart and soul, but the kind of love that edures until ‘death do us part’ may not be enough to make it in the end.

I took solace in this story because it helped me realize that even if a breakup follows, no matter what causes it, when two people are in love it is magical, even if only for a short time.

However, the magic need not end with the relationship – it can live on through personal soul searching.

Susan J. Elliot, M.E.D and author of “Getting Past Your Past” said that the grieving process will toss you through a whirlwind of shock, denial, anger and depression before you reach acceptance, reorganization and integration.

While the mind tries to move on and put things back together, she says, the heart holds on to the past and tries to remember.

I know from personal experience that the biggest obstacle is getting the heart and the mind to work together, which is when you will make the deepest journey into your soul.

The goal is to use the extreme emotions to empower your future, to try something you’ve never done before or to hone in on your deep-rooted passions.

When my heart is in breakup distress, I come up with some of my best writing, and my best friend becomes a temporary artist. Another friend finally ran her first half-marathon.

Believe it or not, after months of tears, emotional letters you’ve written but never sent, thousands of vent sessions to your best friend and many hours spent reminiscing, getting your heart and mind in sync gives you the strength to power forward.

You begin to investigate how you have grown and who you have become so you can present your newest discoveries to your newest lover.

The two of you will rejoice in each other’s excitement and passions for as long as you can, never wanting to envision an end, but then the inevitabilities kick in.

Eventually, someone gets distracted, bored or the both of you just naturally change – without warning and without choice.

Regardless of the cause, the process starts all over again.

But it is only when we are alone that we do the most profound soul searching – on a mission to achieve the quintessential truth that love conquers all.

- Kori Price is a senior from Glenns Ferry, Idaho majoring in newspapers.