If someone keeps chasing you through a relationship that has become toxic, please don’t automatically take it as a compliment.

Sometimes, they are not chasing because the relationship is healthy or because their love is somehow greater. They may be replaying an old wound: trying once again to finally be chosen by someone who feels emotionally unavailable. The harder you pull away, the harder they chase. Not because they are weak, but because something much older may have been activated inside them.

That is why the chasing can become a ticking bomb. Eventually, exhaustion, humiliation, resentment and pain catch up.

You are not obligated to heal them. You do not owe anyone a relationship, access to you, or continued contact.

But if you have it in your heart, you can choose not to be cruel.

Don’t enjoy being chased. Don’t use their attachment to feel powerful. Don’t keep giving them just enough hope to keep them running toward you.

Be clear. Be kind. Be consistent.

Sometimes the most compassionate thing you can do for someone who keeps chasing you is to stop giving them something to chase.

And sometimes, that is exactly what finally allows them to turn around and begin finding themselves.