Holding On to Hope When Marriage Keeps Getting Delayed

Assalamu alaikum, everyone. I’m in my mid-twenties, and in our circles, many sisters get married before 25. My parents have been looking for a suitable match for me for the last two years, and I’m getting mentally drained and a bit lost, to be honest. After I finished my studies, I wasn’t ready to settle down right away. I asked my parents for a couple of years so I could build my career first. But my career path didn’t go as planned. I’m working a contract job now, alhamdulillah, but the pressure to marry is really mounting-from family, the community, and even my own heart, because I truly want to be married now. The problem is, nothing seems to click. If I’m interested in someone, the feeling isn’t mutual. If someone is interested in me, we don’t seem compatible. I’ve always been a bit shy and kept away from any haram relationships, believing that when the right husband comes, it’ll be in a halal and lovely way. Because of that, I think I became quite careful about what I want, and now folks say my expectations are ‘too high,’ though I just want real compatibility and tranquility. What weighs on me more is that I’m not alone in this. I have cousins around my age who’ve also been searching for years. Three of my cousin sisters got engaged twice, but both engagements didn’t work out. Spiritually, I feel like I’ve tried everything. I’m consistent with my salah, I pray tahajjud often, I make abundant dua, recite certain surahs and duas for marriage, pray salat-ul-hajat, do istighfar, fast, give sadaqah, and even performed ruqyah. Alhamdulillah, I’ve kept close to Allah through all this. But after years of effort, I’m starting to feel hopeless. Sometimes I wonder if there’s some hidden barrier in my life, because despite all the striving, prayers, and searching, nothing moves forward. I know Allah’s timing is perfect, but emotionally it’s getting hard to see what I’m meant to learn from this test. Has anyone been through something like this? How did you manage it mentally and spiritually? Any heartfelt advice would be so helpful. And brothers, please no DMs.