For so long, I believed I was supposed to follow a script.

I was told I needed to find a good enough guy, settle down, have children, and live a life that fit neatly into society’s definition of success.

I thought that love was something I had to chase, that it was something I had to force into existence, something I had to prove I was worthy of by meeting the right standards.

But now, I know this:

Love does not need to be chased.

Love will not force itself into your life before you are ready.

And the right love? It will align with your energy, your pace, your truth.

The Pressure to Conform: Breaking Free from Society’s Chains

How many times have I been told that I need to settle for a “good enough” relationship?

How many times have I been told to look for stability, to “settle down” just because I’m getting older, just because everyone around me seems to have it figured out?

For years, I felt the pressure—the weight of everyone else’s expectations.

It felt like I was suffocating, being molded into something that wasn’t me.

I began to question myself: Was I broken? Was I doing something wrong for not falling into line like everyone else?

Why was I not rushing toward marriage, children, and that “perfect” life they said I should want?

But now, I realize:

I do not have to follow their timeline.

I do not have to settle for a love that does not resonate with my soul.

I am not here to live out someone else’s dreams for me.

I am here to live my own truth.

The Right One Will Not Let You Chase—He Will Align with Your Energy

I’ve spent so much time wondering if I was chasing love too hard—thinking that if I pushed enough, someone would finally choose me.

But I now know that real love does not need to be chased.

It needs to be attracted.

When you’re ready, love will align with your energy.

When you stop seeking validation from external sources, when you stop chasing after love because you feel incomplete, the right person will recognize your wholeness.

And they will meet you at your level.

The right man will not make you fight for his attention.

He will see you.

He will meet your depth, your authenticity, your fire with respect, admiration, and love.

He will not run from your strength.

He will run toward it, because he knows that you are not someone who needs to be saved.

You are someone who chooses him, just as he chooses you.

Love Is Not a Race: Take Your Own Pace

I used to feel like I was running out of time.

I used to feel that there was a deadline for love, that if I didn’t find it by a certain age, I would somehow fail.

But now, I know that love does not run on a deadline.

Love comes in its own time—when we are ready, when we are aligned with who we truly are, when we stop trying to force ourselves into a mold that doesn’t fit.

You cannot chase or force love when you are not ready.

You cannot be loved fully when you don’t yet love yourself.

Take your time.

Take the time you need to heal, to grow, to come into your full power.

And when you do, love will find you, not because you sought it out, but because it recognizes you for the woman you’ve become.

You Are Enough: Waiting for the Right Love is Not Wasted Time

Waiting for the right love is not wasted time.

It is not a curse.

It is a sacred period of becoming.

During this time, you are learning to love yourself fully.

You are learning to trust your own heart, to believe in your own worth, to understand your own needs.

You are becoming whole, so that when love comes, it will not complete you—it will complement you.

You are enough, just as you are.

You do not need to become someone else to fit into someone else’s life.

You do not need to make yourself smaller or quieter or less than you are to find love.

The right man will see you—all of you—and love you for exactly who you are.

Refuse to Settle: You Are Not “Almost,” You Are Whole

If I have to pretend for the rest of my life, if I have to shrink myself to fit someone else’s idea of what love should be, then I would rather remain in solitude.

But in that solitude, I know I am not alone.

I am learning to be whole—and when the time is right, the love that will come to me will be just as whole.

I will not settle for almost.

I will not settle for love that feels incomplete.

I will wait for the love that resonates with my soul, the love that challenges me to grow, the love that encourages me to rise higher.

And when that love comes, I will know it—it will feel like a homecoming.

It will feel like meeting someone who has been waiting for me, just as I have been waiting for them.

With love,

Seraphine Duong

So, my sweet sister, take your time.

Do not rush into love because society tells you it’s time.

You are not on anyone else’s timeline, and you do not need to settle for a life that isn’t yours to create.

Let the love that aligns with your energy find you.

Let it come in its own time, when you are ready to receive it fully.

And when it does, let it be the love that complements your beautiful, wild, fiery soul.

Trust that the right love will never make you feel less than what you are.

It will only help you remember who you were always meant to be.

And until that love comes, know this: you are enough, and you always have been.