You Were Never Meant to Earn Love | Breaking the Cycle of Self-Abandonment in Relationships

The Femme Cast

The Femme Cast
You Were Never Meant to Earn Love | Breaking the Cycle of Self-Abandonment in Relationships
Jul 29, 2025
Maria Rei

What if the exhausting chase for love—the overthinking, overgiving, people-pleasing, and shrinking yourself just to be chosen—was never your fault… but the result of a belief system that was handed down to you without your consent?

In this raw and soul-stirring episode of The Femme Cast, I’m pulling back the curtain on one of the deepest wounds so many women carry: the belief that love must be earned.

If you've ever asked yourself:

🎤 “Why do I keep chasing emotionally unavailable partners?”
🎤 “Why do I lose myself in relationships that never truly nourish me?”
🎤 “What would it look like to choose myself—really, deeply, unapologetically?”

…this conversation is for you.

We’ll explore how this subconscious conditioning—passed through generations, religion, school systems, and patriarchal programming—has created a dangerous pattern of self-abandonment in the name of love. You’ll hear intimate, never-before-shared stories from my own dating history (hello, circus-in-my-head level overthinking 👀) and how I finally stopped performing, contorting, and settling for breadcrumbs… and reclaimed my wholeness.

In this episode, we dive into:

🎤 The hidden origins of the “I must earn love” wound—and why it’s not your fault
🎤
How this belief leads us to chase chemistry while ignoring compatibility
🎤 The moment I decided to stop performing for love and what shifted after
🎤 What it really means to trust that you are enough, as you are
🎤 How to reverse-engineer this pattern and attract love from a place of wholeness, not hustle

This isn’t just about relationships. It’s a full-body reclamation of your self-worth, your desires, and your sacred “no more.”

You’ll walk away with the clarity to stop asking “How can I get them to love me?” and start asking “Is this even someone I want in my life?”

Because the truth is: you don’t have to earn love. You were born worthy of it. And when you finally stop chasing what’s not aligned… you create space for what deeply is.

🎧 Press play. Share with a sister. And don’t forget to subscribe and leave a review if this episode cracked something open for you.

Ready to stop abandoning yourself for love? To finally rise from the wreckage of betrayal and become the woman you were born to be?

The Sacred Reclamation Series: Betrayal Edition now playing right here on The Femme Cast.

5 soul-stirring podcast episodes + a FREE live healing + activation on July 29th @ 8PM EST

This is your sign.
This is your turning point.

Claim your seat now at the FREE live healing + activation now.
https://thefemmecast.kit.com/masterclass

Episode Artwork You Were Never Meant to Earn Love | Breaking the Cycle of Self-Abandonment in Relationships 41:21 Episode Artwork The Betrayal Series Day 5: Rebuilding Trust After Betrayal: The Truth About Flashbacks, Red Flags + Healing Forward 34:26 Episode Artwork The Betrayal Series Day 4: The Woman You Were Before vs. The Woman You're Becoming 35:42 Episode Artwork The Betrayal Series Day 3: Burn It All Down: Why Rebuilding the Same Life After Betrayal Is the Biggest Mistake You Can Make 32:29 Episode Artwork The Betrayal Series Day 2: The Rage You’re Afraid to Feel Is the Rage That Brought Me Back To Life 42:11 Episode Artwork The Betrayal Series Day 1: Blindsided by Betrayal: How I Missed the Signs—and the Radical Self-Forgiveness That Finally Set Me Free 37:15 Episode Artwork Why You Keep Chasing People Who Won’t Choose You — And How to Finally Break Free 29:15 Episode Artwork The Childhood Crush That Started It All: How I Became Addicted to Chasing Emotionally Unavailable Men 29:19 Episode Artwork Why You’re Addicted to Emotionally Unavailable Love (And How to Break the Cycle for Good) 29:22 Episode Artwork The Cringe-Worthy Moment That Changed Everything | My Breaking Point, Begging for Love, and Finally Choosing Me 28:55 Episode Artwork The Lie of Positivity + The Feminine Superpower That Was Kept From Us 38:59 Episode Artwork The Power of Walking Away | What You Want Can’t Come In Until You Let Go of What You Don’t 23:28 Episode Artwork The 7-Year Breakup That Changed Everything | Why Choosing Myself Was the Deepest Love Story of All 32:05 Episode Artwork From Breakdown to Breakthrough: The Night My Sacred Reclamation Method Was Born on a Stormy Beach in Thailand 35:24 Episode Artwork Sacred Rebellion: Finding the Courage to Do the Unpleasing Thing and Finding Yourself In the Process 27:56 Episode Artwork Stop People-Pleasing, Start Living | Break the Generational Pattern and Awaken the Life You Didn’t Know You Were Meant For 37:59 Episode Artwork 4 Relationship Shifts That Changed Everything For Me (And Might Just Save You Years of Heartache) 34:54 Episode Artwork When Your Soul Says "No More" and Why You're Feeling Resistance to Everything Right Now 38:36 Episode Artwork The Quiet Reset: Breaking Generational Cycles, Healing Ancestral Wounds & Becoming Who You Were Meant to Be 37:40 Episode Artwork How People-Pleasing Secretly Sabotages Your Life | 3 Hidden Ways You're Losing Yourself Without Even Realizing It 33:50 Episode Artwork You’re Not Broken—The Relationship Pattern That Is Meant to Heal You and Wake You Up 20:50 Episode Artwork Alone But Not Lonely | Why Some of Your Healing Must Happen in Isolation 22:27 Episode Artwork How to Handle Ghosting Without Losing Your Self-Worth (The Truth About Being Truly Unbothered vs. Just Pretending) 19:56 Episode Artwork The Father Wound: How Chasing His Love Kept Me Chase Emotionally Unavailable Men 29:25 Episode Artwork Why Chasing Love Pushes It Further Away (And What To Do Instead) 24:09