Love is a subject that has inspired so many art pieces in terms of songs, movies, plays and even books. Love sells, love is captivating, love is enchanting and
love is this emotional force that makes you think you can conquer the world. When you find your significant other termed as the perfect match love is fire with
a garnishing of gasoline.
If this is how love is portrayed and viewed, then why are most marriages succumbing to the claws of divorce and breaks? Let’s put it this way, just because
there are bumps on your highway, it doesn’t mean you are on the wrong lane.
Love is likened to a meal with a five-step recipe but sadly most of us have found comfort with semi-cooked food stopping at stage three.
Having a clear understanding of the 5 stages of love that occurs in every journey of a relationship will save you from unnecessary tears. They also provide hope
and the strong will to push on. See, the knowledge of brighter lighter at the end of a darker tunnel is enough motivation for endurance.
Stage 1: passion, romance, and playfulness
These are the butterflies of the first encounters. This stage is all about the physical appearance and physical things done to appeal to you as a significant other. I call them butterflies because it is basically what you see. Sexiness, late night phone calls and more often the romantic mental disorder. You can’t sleep, you can’t concentrate, you can’t do anything al because you are hooked because your hormones are in the limelight. The fun at this stage makes it everyone’s cup of coffee.
Stage 2: it is really happening
This is a stage that starts to define you as a couple. The wildness of stage one has toned down. You can still hold hand in public but you know you have a home to go to. For you as a couple, life has picked up. You are probably living together and working on long-term investments. You recognize the responsibilities manifested in bills that have to be paid and probably a child that depends on you. Sex at this stage has meaning attached to it. You can afford a few stolen minutes, but you’ll often have to snap back to reality where adulting is real. You as a
couple are now picking a lane in life.
Stage 3: how did I get here?
This is the part where you feel like you just landed from space and found that life went on without you. Thoughts of contemplating if you made a better choice
ease themselves into your head. While your peers seem to have parties to attend and vacations to schedule for, you have job meeting, unpaid bills and messed
up home to clean but no one appreciates recognizes it. Your partner seems absent. Arguments and ill-talks become the daily bread. Cuddles are no more, handholding is scary and sex is a miracle. Stage three is messy and all about getting through the mess that you will wonder what really happened? When did you stop feeling that love? At some point, spouses develop hate towards their partners.
Stage 4: the redemption
This stage is a gift for those who were persistent through the tougher stage three. It is marked with more understanding of each other’s mistakes and downfalls and acknowledgment of their effort and goals in life. Stage four is redemption road that allows you to see each other as you are and walk through it. This is fine
wine love that is mature and appreciates diversity.
Stage 5: teamwork
This stage is for those who have seen it all, experienced it all and still stood. This is where spouses got each other’s back. Empires are built with their common
strengths and different castles put up. Couples use what binds them together for social and economic growth as much as they explore their personal advances.
With that kind of realization, couples enjoy a full cooked meal.
Stages of love are meant to make you aim for that long shot. They are meant to let you know that just like a meal takes time to be prepared and cooked, fruitful
love is no different.
