How often do we feel like we are falling behind in life, especially when it comes to relationships? The pressure to move at a certain pace is relentless. Maybe you are in your late twenties or thirties, and you scroll through social media, bombarded by engagement announcements, wedding photos, and baby news. It feels like everyone else is speeding past you, ticking off life’s milestones, while you are still figuring things out.
But love is not a race. It is not about keeping pace with others or rushing to meet arbitrary timelines. Love is a journey—sometimes slow and winding, sometimes fast and exhilarating—but it is your journey.
Consider the story of Jake and Lily.
They met in college, became fast friends, and everyone assumed they would start dating right away. But they didn’t. Instead, they both had other relationships, made career moves, and even lived in different cities for a few years. When they finally did come together, it was in their early thirties, after years of building their own lives. For them, love took its time, and they are glad it did. They laugh now, knowing that if they had rushed into a relationship in their twenties, they might not have lasted. They needed to grow into the people they became before their paths aligned in the right way.
This idea that love has to follow a specific timeline is a myth. Some people marry their high school sweetheart, and it works beautifully. Others meet their soulmate in their forties or fifties. Some relationships thrive in the early stages, while others need time to develop slowly over years of friendship or shared experiences. The beauty of love is that there is no right way to do it. The only thing that matters is that it feels right for you and your partner.
Remember the pressure we put on ourselves: to find “the one,” to get engaged, to marry, and to have children by a certain age. We forget that life has its own pace, and that pace is different for everyone. Instead of comparing our journey to others, we should focus on what feels authentic to us.
Life’s journey, and especially the journey of love, is full of unexpected twists. There will be moments when everything clicks, and the path ahead feels clear. Then, there will be detours, roadblocks, and times when you are not sure where the journey is leading. The key is to trust the process. Love is not about reaching a destination—it is about walking the road together, no matter where it leads.
So the next time you feel like you are behind, or that your relationship is not progressing “fast enough,” remember: you are exactly where you are meant to be. Love is not a race. It is a journey, and every step, every pause, every detour is part of the story that only you and your partner can write.
