There are generally five stages of a relationship with the first being when you first meet. When you first meet someone and start dating, everything is new and exciting. Many years ago this stage was referred to as 'courting' but these days we just say we are dating or seeing someone.
During this first stage you can't seem to get enough of one another and will spend a lot of time together. This is great because this is all part of getting to know each other. You will be floating on cloud nine during this stage and because you feel so happy, everything around you seems much different. You will walk arm in arm or holding hands and will probably steal a kiss whenever you can. You don't really think of anything else except for your new love. This first stage can last anywhere from a couple of weeks to a few months.
The second stage of a relationship begins when you start to become more comfortable with one another. The newness begins to wear off a little as you begin to be comfortable and start to trust one another. The fun and excitements is still there and during this time you may become intimate with one another.
When the relationship becomes intimate then this adds a whole new excitement to the relationship as you get to know what each other likes and wants. If communication between the two of you is easy and natural then you should find it easy to talk about your sexual relationship. This is a time that is a lot of fun when you are figuring out what you like to do together and you may even decide to experiment with things you have never done before.
During the third stage of a relationship you become very comfortable with one another, you know each other very well and have developed respect and trust for one another. At this point in time you may decide to move in together. As much as you love each other, moving in together is a big change and you need to keep open the lines of communication to ensure a smooth transition.
When you decide to move in together you should discuss some ground rules first. There is no point moving in and then finding out that you both have completely different rules and expectations. You might want to discuss things like what roles you play, what chores each person is responsible for, and any other expectations you have. It is best to know this up front and then decide whether you want to live together.
The fourth stage of a relationship is planning your future together and getting married. You need to continue with the good communication skills as this stage does take some planning and planning weddings and futures can be stressful. Other than the wedding there are other important decisions to make like whether you want children, whether you want to buy a house together etc.
Stage five has two options and how you handle stage four may determine which path you will take toward stage five. The two paths of stage five are 'happily ever after' and 'divorce'. If you plan your future well and communicate well with one another then there is no reason why your stage five can't be happily ever after. Too many people these days end up with divorce as their stage five and quite often that could be avoided if they had better communication.
