Just this week alone, the week right after CNY, I already know of 5 break-ups - of relationships lasting 1 year, 5 years and even 10 years. And when you heard of someone who has just broken up with a partner of 10 years, your heart just goes out to that person. No matter how much dislike you have against that person, no matter how much bias you have against that person, surely, as a fellow human being you just feel for that poor soul. After all, it's 10 years of life-sharing, of spending awesome joys together, and walking through those dark valleys with each other.

And then in comparison, the 1 year relationship seems less consequential. Still, feelings can't be measured by time and space, can they? Perhaps it was the very first relationship one has gotten into, perhaps it was a relationship where one felt ready/willing to commit to for the rest of his life.

And so the magic question: why, even after we have been hurt (some more than a few times), do we still go on to look for another person and then plunge into a relationship eventually?

I guess as much as we may hate to admit it, deep deep inside all of us there exists this innate desire which yearns for company and attention. Something more than what your family gives you, and something more than what your friends can give you. The desire of possession and a sense of belonging and a shared life. Do we not crave for a partner who, at the end of our crazy day, we can go back to and simply rest in whose company?

As the Robbie Williams song goes - 'Send someone to love me, I need to rest in arms, Keep me safe from harm, In pouring rain.'

And so that's the irrational side kicking in, telling you that even though you may be hurt once more, it's worth risking a shot because you never know if things might just turn out well this time round. Ahh Jay Chou's 轨迹 suddenly comes to mind:

如果说分手是苦痛的起点，那在终点之前，我愿意再爱一遍。

And from Mitch Albom's Five People You Meet In Heaven - 'That's the thing. Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else.'

问世间：情为何物，只叫人生死相许？