About » The Stages
The various stages, or phases, of a relationship... who doesn’t know them?
The first kiss, which lets us forget everything else around us... the first fight, which leaves us questioning everything again... falling in love... moving in together...
There are many stages a modern relationship usually runs (or sneakes) through from the beginning to the end. 13, to be exact:
1 - Becoming acquainted
You quickly realize if the other person appeals to you. If you feel attracted you better clarify your situation. ‚What does your girlfriend think about her boyfriend drinking coffee with strange women?’ - ‚My girlfriend? My girlfriend left me 3 weeks ago.’ She gets this „poor boy” look... ‚Don’t let it get you down.The world is full of women!’ ...
2 - First date
You should never overrate the first date. You can do something really extravagant, or you can just do something unspectacular and practical. Either way - you shouldn’t expect too much. Or even better: Don’t expect anything!
3 - First kiss
You know that moment? When you gaze at a stranger’s eyes, and you’re overcome by the feeling that you’ve known that personall your life? When that happens, you’re not far from the first kiss...
4 - First sex
This stage can last between a few days and a few weeks. During that time you learn all your partner’s sexual preferences... And you discover some new tricks... But if you eat too much at once, you might begin to feel queasy very soon! ;)
5 - Being in love
You want to spend every second together. Every time you separate, it’s an incredibly dramatic moment. During this phase, you feel that everything... absolutely everything the other person does is somehow sweet. You assume you will spend the rest of your lives together...
6 - First fight
You often say things you don’t mean. If mutual insults don’t achieve the desired effect, you end up employing more drastic means. ‚I never want to see you again!! I’ll post your things!’ - And that’s it! Easy come, easy go! - But when you break up in the heat of the moment, you might regret it the very next moment...
7 - The friends
Getting along with your partner’s friends at first sight is like winning the lottery. At best, your friends only try your partner’s patience. Your friends can also be the source of a new quarrel: ‚What do you mean? „Girls night”?’ - ‚What’s wrong about going out on my own?’ ...
8 - The parents
Parents often have difficulties understanding that their children have definitely grown up. ‚I see, an author. What do you write? Books?’ - ‚Yes ... as well.’ - ‚And you can live on that?’ - ‚Mum!’ - ‚What’s wrong? I just want to sound out my future son-in-law!’...
9 - Through thick and thin
Once you’ve reached this stage, you can essentially go for a ride. The love affair develops into a very deep friendship. You suddenly do things together you’d never even do with your best friend...
10 - Moving in together
Moving in together can raise frightening questions. Questions like: Is life really over now? Will I become old and narrow-minded? But it can also constitute an undreamt-of source of euphoria. After all, a mutual flat generates an incomparable feeling of closeness.
11 - Daily routine
Everyday life can drain a relationship of its strength. There are quite a few things you could deal with alone, but for some inexplicable reason it’s much more difficult to do them together: ‚Have you paid the gas bill?’ - ‚No. You wanted to take care of it.’ - ‚I did? Who’s going to pay the phone bill?’ - ‚Who’s constantly on the phone?’ - ‚Constantly. Nobody’s „constantly” on the phone...’ ;)
12 - Separation
You can stifle suspicion, or you can talk about it. ‚Where were you?’ - ‚At a café.’ - ‚With whom?’ - ‚I won’t tell you.’ - ‚Have you met someone else?’ - ‚Yes, I’ve met someone else.’ -- At this point you stop being in love...
13 - Absolutely final stage
After the final stage comes the absolutely final stage. At first, everything might be cool. You take the opportunity to do what you hadn’t been able to do for a long time. But sometimes you wake up in the middle of the day - and that’s the point when you realize exactly what happened. Nothing, absolutely nothing will ever be the same as it was...
0 - Not in a relationship
Actually, this is not a real stage of a modern relationship. It’s the phase in between, after you managed to get over the last one and before you meet someone new. You may be looking for someone... or not (yet).