Every new couple goes through a journey and this journey can make or break a couple. These stages are important for couples to go through as they get to know each other each day and month that passes by. Therefore, here are the 5 stages of dating that each couple goes through:
- Attraction: When you first meet a potential mate, that person that you see from a distance and find attractive, and you do not feel intimidated by the beauty you see in them. In this stage you develop the physical desire to be close to them, even when you have not spoken with them. Attraction is important for all relationships because this is the first foundation before you even approach the person you would like to get to know.
- Reality: After you and your partner meet and both feel that sense of attraction to each other and the relationship becomes serious, this stage is where the honeymoon stage comes in. In the honeymoon stage you hardly find any flaws in your partner, you want to spend all the time with them, all you see is goodness in them but then slowly but surely reality creeps in and now you find yourself seeing your partner’s flaws and shortcomings, here is where the honeymoon phase ends and reality begins.
- Commitment: In this stage of your relationship you have met reality and you no longer make decisions based on unrealistic expectations, you see your partner for who they are and not for who you would like them to be. Your partner and you commit to each other despite your flaws and shortcomings because you both understand you carry your own brokenness with you and empathy and understanding becomes part of the commitment you make with each other.
- Intimacy: Intimacy goes beyond the sexual aspect of your relationship although this part is super important to ensure you have a healthy relationship but intimacy here is the ability for you and your partner to share your most intense desires, fears, dreams, etc. Here is when you get to know your partner at a level that you have not met them before, here is where you both become vulnerable to each other.
- Engagement: Here is where you and your partner finally decide that you want to commit to each other for the rest of your lives. There is a sense where now you both decide you want to become a family and do all aspects of life together and that includes getting married both legally and in a ceremony. Now you are no longer open to the possibility of “someone else” because there is no someone else to look for.
Author: Amaury Abreu
