Have you ever met someone and experienced an immediate bond that was so deep that you considered them to be a potential life partner? But the timing just wasn’t right. Meeting the right person at the wrong time is bittersweet. You feel the spark, but circumstances beyond your control prevent it from igniting.
If this sounds like you, don’t lose hope. Sometimes, paths cross again when the timing is better. Here are 13 signs you met your soulmate at the wrong time.
Unresolved Personal Issues
Unresolved personal issues can sabotage even the best relationship. If you’re fresh out of a breakup or dealing with loss, you may not be in the right headspace to start something new.
- Give yourself time to heal. Don’t rush into anything until you’ve processed the pain and come out the other side.
- Work on yourself. Deal with your trust issues, commitment fears, or whatever else is holding you back before getting involved with someone else.
- Don’t make them “the one” too soon. When you meet that special someone at the wrong time, it’s easy to idealize them as your savior. But that’s not a healthy dynamic for a new relationship.
- If it’s meant to be, your paths will cross again. Don’t fret that you’re letting the opportunity of a lifetime slip away. Stay focused on your own journey, and trust that the universe will bring you together at the right time if it’s truly right.
Your Values and Life Stages Don’t Align
You want the same things in life – marriage, kids, travel – but your timelines are way off. Maybe they’re ready to settle down yesterday, but you’re still sowing your wild oats.
This mismatch in life stages can lead to hurt feelings and resentment. Your soulmate may feel like you’re stringing them along or not committed enough. You might feel rushed into major life changes you’re not ready for.
Your Heart Is Not Fully Open
When you meet someone special at the wrong time, your heart may not be fully open to a new relationship. You could still be healing from past hurts or distrust in relationships. Without realizing it, you may have put up emotional walls to protect yourself that make it hard to connect deeply with another person.
The Timing Never Seems Right
You met someone who could be “the one,” but the timing is off. Maybe one of you just got out of a relationship and isn’t ready to commit again. Or perhaps you’re in different life stages, like still in school while the other has an established career.
Whatever the reason, the timing never seems to align, so you can really be together. You try to make plans, but something always comes up for one of you. Or when you do get together, real life stresses and responsibilities end up pulling you apart again.
Different Life Stages
You and your soulmate may be at very different points in your lives, making a relationship difficult to navigate at the present moment. Perhaps one of you has just graduated college while the other has an established career and family. Or maybe you’re recently divorced while the other has never been married.
Being in different life stages means your goals, priorities, and lifestyles probably differ too. Rather than force something prematurely, accept that you met at the wrong time.
Geographical Barriers
Meeting someone who seems like your soul mate, a piece of your soul, can be bittersweet if you live far apart. While modern technology makes communication easy, distance poses some real challenges.
You may connect instantly via phone or video chat, but physically being together is difficult. Visiting each other requires time off work, expensive travel, and dealing with the longing and heartache when you have to say goodbye.
Unrealistic Expectations
When you meet someone who seems like your potential soul partner, it’s easy to get swept away in fantasy and build up unrealistic expectations of what life together will be like. You may start planning or envisioning a future that’s far ahead of where you actually are in the relationship. But the timing isn’t right, and this can lead to feelings of hurt or betrayal if those fantasies aren’t realized.
Some signs you have unrealistic expectations include:
- You’re already thinking of marriage or kids when you’ve just started dating.
- You expect them to always be available when you want and get upset if they’re not.
- You stop doing your own hobbies or seeing your friends as much because you’re so focused on the relationship.
- You feel like this person is the only one for you, and you couldn’t live without them.
Unresolved Past Traumas
Unresolved past traumas can be a major sign you met your soulmate at the wrong time. Have you gone through difficult life events that still haunt you? The death of a loved one, a painful breakup, health issues, or other traumatic experiences can affect your ability to open up to new relationships.
If you find yourself projecting past hurts onto your new partner or not fully trusting them because of what someone else did, it may be a sign you have healing to do before you can commit to them fully.
Lack of Mutual Availability
Meeting your soulmate at the wrong time often means one or both of you simply aren’t available to commit to a relationship. Maybe aren’t ready to jump into something new or just got out of a relationship. Or perhaps one of you has plans to move to another city or country, making the logistics of a relationship complicated.
If you’re not able to give this person your full attention and really nurture a partnership, the timing isn’t right. Even if you feel an intense connection, the reality is that relationships require work, compromise, and sacrifice.
Fear of Commitment
When you meet someone who seems like a perfect match, but the timing isn’t right, it can be heartbreaking. If fear of commitment is holding one or both of you back from fully diving in, it may be a sign you met at the wrong time.
Obstacles Appearing Between The Two of You
When you meet your soulmate at the wrong time, roadblocks seem to pop up everywhere, preventing you from connecting.
Sometimes, you might have the desire to meet up with them, but you end up missing the last bus. Or perhaps you want to send them a text message, but your mobile data suddenly stops working. It seems like there’s always an obstacle preventing you from connecting.
Cultural or Religious Differences
Meeting the right person at the wrong time often comes down to differences in culture, beliefs, or values that you’re not quite ready to navigate.
Perhaps your spiritual or religious views differ in ways that would make a long-term relationship difficult. Or maybe your cultural backgrounds are vastly different, and you’re still figuring out how to bridge that gap.
Feeling “Stuck” or Limited
Perhaps you’ve experienced a job loss or are currently facing challenges that have made it difficult for you to open your heart to love. It’s possible that certain limitations are holding you back, preventing you from entering into new relationships until you find a resolution.
Remember that the saying “a healthy mind leads to a healthy body” also applies to relationships.
Some Day, The Time Will Be Right
So there you have it, the unfortunate truth that timing is everything. I understand what you’re going through because I’ve experienced it myself. However, just because the timing wasn’t right once doesn’t mean it will never be right!
The truth is, you can’t force the right time before it’s ready. All you can do is learn from this experience, continue growing into your best self, follow your passions, and trust that the right person at the right time will come into your life when you don’t expect it. Your soulmate is still out there.
