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Breakup
The Philosophy of a Breakup
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Maybe it's not
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Maintaining Your Dignity
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Breakups
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Breaking
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Commitment-Phobe-Hee-Haw
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The 8 Stages of Relationships
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The Lighter Side of Breaking Up
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Your Breakup Look
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Instant
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The Healing Side of a Breakup
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Singlehood is GOOD!
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Does
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How
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Meeting Someone New (or
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Are You Addicted to a Commitment Phobic
Man? |
The Eight+ Stages of
Relationships
Author: Rinatta Paries (
www.WhatItTakes.com
)
All relationships go through predictable
stages as they grow and develop. This is especially true for romantic
relationships.
What stage is your relationship
in?
Or if you are not in a relationship,
at what stage do your relationships always end and why?
Even if your relationship seems at the
peak of passion, or chaotic and out of control, or at equilibrium, it is
at a
predictable stage and there are more stages for it to reach. Identifying
the stages of your relationship and the attributes, stumbling blocks, and
joys of each stage can help you negotiate it and the future with more success,
peace, and love.
Stage 1: The Honeymoon
According to love songs and fairy tales, this stage is what love is supposed
to be like. You meet, you connect, you fall in love. Everything seems right.
Nothing seems out of place. Even if some things don't seem right, you are
full of hope they will work themselves out.
-
When it starts and how long it
lasts: This stage can start from day one, but it's usually in effect
within the first month and can last between three to six months.
-
The joy: You feel more alive,
more expanded, more in touch with life, beauty, joy, maybe spirituality,
and perhaps yourself. You have hope. You feel exhilarated, or at least exited.
You have fun. These are all very wonderful feelings and should be celebrated
and enjoyed.
-
The stumbling block: You may overlook
whether your partner is truly compatible with you and rush into the depth
of the relationship too soon and/or with the wrong person. And this, in turn,
can mean you will breakup and get hurt down the road.
-
What to do: Enjoy, have fun, but
slow down and don't count on a future together yet. Get to know each other
first. If you are right for each other, there is no reason to rush in --
you will have a lifetime together. If you are wrong for each other, you will
save yourself much heartache.
Stage 2: The Discovery
During this stage, the initial excitement of being together is subdued so
you can actually discover who the other person really is. You and your partner
begin to discover each other's quirks and neurosis, and you uncover things
that bug you about each other. You also begin to discover what you truly
love and respect about one another. Your communication should deepen to a
soulful level, where you begin to open up to each other.
-
When it starts and how long it
lasts: This stage starts between 3 and 6 months and can last for a number
of years, depending on how comfortable the couple is with self-disclosure
and how fast or slow the couple wants to progress in emotional intimacy.
-
The joy: The joy is the discovery;
you are close enough to be able to glimpse the other person, his or her
vulnerabilities, beauty, even quirks -- which you may think are cute. The
joy is also in seeing evidence that you have chosen the right person (if
in fact you have such evidence), as well as in deep communication and budding
emotional intimacy.
-
The stumbling block: You may begin
to discover things that drive you crazy about each other. You may also discover
that the two of you do things in very different fashions, or have vastly
different interests. This is a time of choice and you may not want to
choose.
-
What to do: Look with open eyes
at both the beauty -- internal and external -- of your partner and the ugliness
and quirks you are discovering. This is a time of choice and often in
relationships we choose what feels good now over choosing what will feel
good in the long run -- and we suffer for it. Decide if this person is a
good fit for you for the long run and wants the same future as you.
Stage 3: The Commitment
This is the stage most singles fantasize about -- the placewhere the relationship
is settled, you know you are together, and you can finally relax. This is
the stage most couples try to rush into and arrive at too soon. And it is
a wonderful stage, but rather than an end of a process, it is only the beginning.
In many ways, a relationship does not truly begin until a couple commits
to each other.
-
When it starts and how long it
lasts: The Commitment Stage starts once each person decides to commit
to either live together or get married, or to another form of deep commitment.
-
The joy: The joy is the sense
of having arrived and no longer having to strive to win your partner. The
joy is the discovery of who your partner is when committed to you, because
commitment brings out a change in the behavior of each person. The joy is
having someone to watch movies with and cook dinner with and hang out with
and do ordinary things. The joy is having a person you love to share a life
with.
-
The stumbling block: Many people
begin to take each other for granted during this stage. Because they have
arrived, they begin to pay less attention to the relationship and to their
partner. And because one of the benefits we seek from a relationship is the
attention from our partner, when it lags, problems begin. The other stumbling
block is that we may not pay enough attention to communication. Issues that
need to be communicated may fall by the wayside for fear of rocking the boat.
They will come back to haunt the relationship later.
-
What to do: Enjoy the togetherness
and your new commitment, but remember to do two things: Make your relationship
a priority no matter what else is happening in your life. And make sure your
lines of communication are open; you are speaking to and listening to each
other.
Stage 4: The Power Struggle
This is the stage at which most couples split up. The power struggle can
be a gut wrenching, painful place for a couple to be. This can be a time
of arguments or silence, a time that truly will test the couple's determination.
Most couples at this stage wonder how they got there since it comes on
unexpectedly out of nowhere. Because almost all of the relationship up to
this point has been joy, it is a very shocking place for a couple to end
up.
-
When it starts and how long it
lasts: This stage can start as soon as the commitment is solidified --
the couple makes a deep commitment, gets married, moves in together, etc.,
or soon thereafter. It can last until the couple breaks up, or for many years.
Or the couple can find a way to work through this stage and move into the
next stages of the relationship.
-
The joy: There is not much joy
in this stage. The joy may be in the periods when you are not power struggling
and are enjoying each other's company. The other joy is in not arguing, or
resolving an argument quickly, even some of the time.
-
The stumbling block: There are
two prime stumbling blocks. One is that when couples get to this stage they
do not realize it is a normal stage for all relationships, and that they
can get through it. Instead, the couple thinks something is wrong -- perhaps
they are no longer compatible or they no longer belong together. The second
stumbling block is that the couple can get stuck in this stage, with one
of both partners being unwilling to move forward. This will eventually wear
the relationship down until there will be nothing left.
-
What to do: There are no simple
solutions to a power struggle in a relationship. But here are a few suggestions:
-
Communicate
-
Give in on anything that is not important
to you
-
Give up behaviors, views, and attitudes
that are hurting the relationship
-
Remember that you love each other
-
Don't retaliate, no matter how much you
feel hurt
I cannot say enough about how important
it is to negotiate the power struggle stage successfully in order to keep
your relationship alive and thriving.
At this point in your relationship you
will follow one of two tracks, and I will be describing both. A couple who
has negotiated the power struggle successfully will most likely follow Track
One. Couples who did not negotiate the power struggle successfully and who
require work in their relationship are more likely to follow Track
Two.
Track One:
What Happens When the Power Struggle is Over?
Track Two: What Happens When the Power Struggle
is Over?
For further insight into
your ex's mind please read this article on
how to get your ex back
or this article on how to
get over a breakup. If you need
help with handling the rejection
or abandonment please join our
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