Adding to but not completing

I just wanted to say thank you, Rick Porter, for confirming my own beliefs about singlehood, and underlining the fact that no one can complete anyone! (“Please, Friends, I Don’t Need You to Complete Me,” Jan. 29) I, too, firmly believe that we can only be truly complete within ourselves, and by ourselves.

The company of another is certainly a nice addition -- companionship is a wonderful thing -- but seeking a partner for a relationship with the hopes that the person can make you whole is a fallacy, and relationships based on that logic don’t have much hope of lasting, because that person can never do for you what you need to do for yourself.

I think the healthiest relationships are those between two people who have done their work on themselves, know who they are and what they want in life, and choose to share their life adventure together.

Mary Cahill

Santa Monica

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As a recently uncoupled single who worked on “Jerry Maguire” and love that movie and its message, I wholeheartedly agree with Rick that it’s better to be a complete single before becoming a complete couple.

We humans do like to couple up, so let us not forget the immortal and elegantly inspirational words of fictional sports agent Dicky Fox that end “Jerry Maguire.” “I love my wife. I love my life. And I wish you my kind of success.”

Those words have always struck me as simple yet profound. Something to keep in mind as we enjoy our “pretty complete” single lives.

Stephanie Lowry

Culver City