The Stages Of A Romantic Relationship – What You Can Expect

If you have met someone recently and there is a strong mutual attraction, you probably spend a lot of your time thinking about this person. Few people in this situation would be thinking about the various stages of a relationship that all couples in love go through. But having a good understanding of these stages will let you know what to expect as your relationship progresses.

The start of a relationship can be very intoxicating. You feel like you’re being swept along in the romance and life feels great. The desire for this person is very strong and your brain is overtaken by the chemistry of love.

Differences are unimportant at the start of a relationship. You might even find these differences endearing.

You’re more focused on getting to know one another and sharing more of your time together. This is called the romantic or honeymoon stage. Like anything that is fresh and new, the start of a relationship is adventurous and exciting.

The next stage typically decides whether the relationship grows or dies. When the newness wears off, you enter into the reality stage where you start to realize who this other person really is.

The differences between the two of you rise to the surface and have greater significance. Both people begin to notice that many of their needs aren’t being satisfied by the other.

This can be a tremendous let down because a number of your expectations have not been fulfilled. Also, the excitement and energy of the romantic stage have diminished. This adds to the ‘let down’.

It is important during this stage to step back and recall that everyone has their shortcomings. There is no perfect mate. You already know that you’re flawed, so why hold your partner’s flaws against him or her?

Direct and genuine communication is essential. Remember that trying to change your partner into someone that he or she is not will only fail. This frequently results in friction that can lead to a breakup.

If you successfully get past this stage, then a long lasting and stable relationship is in your future.

How To Be Romantic – 3 Tips For Expressing Your Love

So you don’t think you’re a romantic? Well your assessment could be wrong. If you get enjoyment from how your partner reacts after having pleased her in some way, then you are a romantic at heart. If you like hearing an occasional love song on the radio, then you’re a romantic.

So if most guys can answer yes to the above questions, why do women complain that guys aren’t romantic enough? The answer is that although they have these feelings, they either don’t know how or feel awkward about expressing them. You have to remember that your partner isn’t asking you to express these feelings to the world at large, just to her.

Being romantic involves doing things that make your partner happy. What you do ought to have a little surprise or spontaneity in it. But this isn’t always true.

Both of you can plan a romantic vacation together. Some tips on expressing your romantic side:

1.) Try to break up the routine that the two of you have settled into. People often associate romance with the beginning of a relationship because everything the two of you did was new. Your involvement with her at the beginning was a big departure from your normal routine. It was new and exciting and therefore romantic.

This feeling of newness and excitement can be rekindled again by breaking out of routine. Stop taking her out to the same old places. Go through your local newspaper for events and things that you’ve never tried before and do them. Make a point of always trying something different.

2.) Show your love in a lot of small ways. For example, try coming up from behind and grabbing and kissing her. Or leaving lots of love notes around where she’ll find them. Put a few in one of the books that she is reading or on a page of a cookbook that she won’t read for a few months.

Is she going to do some traveling without you (on a business trip or seeing her parents)? Try putting a box of chocolates and a card near the bottom of her suitcase for her to discover after she’s left.

3.) Give her a good surprise with something truly exceptional. Send her a romance novel with you and her as the main characters of the plot. You can try doing it the hard way and write the whole thing yourself.

The easy way is to download a romance novel that’s in the public domain (has no copyright). Using a text editor, do an automated search and replace operation that replaces out the two main characters (lovers) with your own names. Print out your romance novel and have it bound with a hard cover.

To get your romance novel in the public domain, search for “romance novels” +”public domain” at Google. There should be plenty of free downloads.

To have the book bound, go to Google and enter “bind a book” as the search query. You will find plenty of tutorials for doing it yourself and plenty of book binding services.

These are just a few of endless ways of giving your partner the gift of romance. The tips discussed here are only the beginning. Put a little effort into it and it will only get easier.