RELATIONSHIP STAGES All COUPLES GO THROUGH

Have you ever met a couple who seemed like they were going to stay together forever, but ended up breaking up a few years later? Perhaps, in all probability, they went wrong in one of these stages of relationship. Are you in a new relationship? Or you are in a seasoned relationship with someone you’ve been with for several years? It doesn’t matter how long your relationship has lasted, because all the relationships will fit into one of these relationship stages. Find your own relationship stage here, and it’ll definitely help you understand your own love life better.

 Infatuation stage- This is the first stage in every relationship. It always starts with a strong attraction and an uncontrollable urge to be with each other. Both of you may be sexually attracted to each other, or both of you may just love each other's company. In this stage, both of you do not pay attention to each other’s flaws  but only focus on each other’s good sides. Most people believe that infatuation is not the real love, meaning, emotions shown during this stage is not the actual one. There is a tendency that you guys will get carried away by your emotions, not being able to discern what is wrong from right.

Understanding Stage- In this stage, both of you start getting to know each other better. You have long conversations with your partner that stretch late into the night, and everything about your partner interests and fascinates you. You talk about each other’s families, exes, likes and dislikes and secrets, and life seems so beautiful and romantic. You both get to a point where you believe you know your partner too well that you can predict their next move and your prediction comes out accurate.

Stage of disturbances- This stage usually forces its way into a happy romance after a few months of blissful courting. Do you remember the first fight or angry disagreement you and your partner had? For the first time ever in the relationship, both of you confront each other over a conflict, even though it’s sorted out quickly. This stage is normal and every one in a relationship comes face to face with it at some point in their relationship.

 The opinion maker- In this stage, both of you create opinions about each other. As the months pass by, both of you know what to expect from each other, and you make an assumption about your partner’s commitment towards the relationship. When these opinions and expectations about your partner differ now and then in real life, it can leave you happy or depressed. You don’t expect your man to buy you flowers, but he does. You feel happy. At the same time, you expect him to pick you up from the airport on time, but he arrives an hour later because he forgot all about picking you up. It depresses you. Bear in mind that things will not always happen just as you want them to happen. Your partner is human and that makes him or her imperfect sometimes.

Moulding Stage- You have your own expectations from an ideal partner. And in this stage, both of you try hard to mould each other to fit your own wants in a perfect partner. This stage has a lot to do with give and take, and both partners constantly try to convince each other to change their behaviour towards the growth of the relationship. This is a power struggle, and one that can end the relationship if both partners are domineering. In this stage, patience and communication with your partner is very essential because you need the both to mould your relationship carefully without breaking or destroying it.

The happy stage- If the relationship survives the moulding stage, both of you may have changed for each other and understood each other’s expectations. In this stage, the relationship moves along perfectly and both of you may be blissfully happy with each other. Almost always, this is the stage when both of you feel like a perfect match. You may even decide to get engaged or get married. This happy stage is also the stage of attachment when both of you truly feel connected to each other and love each other immensely.

The stage of doubts- It’s been several years since both of you have been in a relationship with each other and somewhere along the way, doubts start to creep in. The intensity of the doubts depend on how happy both of you are in the relationship. You start to think of your past relationships, your exes, and other prospective partners. You tie your happiness in life with your relationship. If you’re unhappy, you blame it on the relationship. In this stage, you start comparing your relationship with other relationships. Would your relationship survive this stage? It definitely could, as long as your relationship is based on the foundation of love and isn’t repetitive.

The sexual exploration stage- This is the stage when your sex life starts to play a vital role. Both your sex drives may change, and one of you may get disinterested in sex. In this stage, you either give up on passionate sex or constantly look for ways to make sex more exciting. If sexual interests start differing here, one of you may end up having an affair. But on the other hand, if you find creative ways to make sex more exciting, your relationship could get better and bring both of you a lot closer.

The stage of complete trust- This is the happy stage when both of you love each other and trust each other completely. But at the same time, the trust in each other could also turn into taking each other for granted. In this stage, both of you know the direction of the relationship and both of you are completely happy with each other and find it easy to predict each other’s behaviour and decisions. As pleasant as this final stage of love may be, it’s still no excuse to take each other for granted or stop appreciating each other, because emotions can be rekindled by someone else at any time if you fail to express your romance to your lover. If you have been in a relationship for a while, you may have experienced all or most of these relationship stages. And if you’re still in a young love, don’t let the dark side of these relationship stages scare you.