9 Stages Of A Relationship All Couples Experience In Their Relationship’s Timeline

No matter how your relationship starts or where it goes, there are 9 stages of a relationship all couples must go through. So which stage are you in now?

Relationships are unique. And each person’s experience of love is never ever the same. You may have been in several relationships in your life, and all of them may have been very different from the earlier one. But there are a few traits about every single relationship that binds all relationships along a similar path. And they’re the different stages of a relationship that all couples go through, irrespective of how it starts or where you are in your relationship right now.

# The infatuation stage of a relationship

This is the first stage in every relationship. It almost always starts with intense attraction and an uncontrollable urge to be with each other. Both of you may be intensely sexually attracted to each other, or both of you may just love the cuddles and each other’s company.

In this stage, both of you overlook any flaws of each other and only focus on the good sides. You find everything attractive about each other, and the not-so-attractive things? Well, you think they’re cute.

# The understanding stage of a relationship

In this stage, both of you start getting to know each other better. You have long conversations with your partner that stretches late into the night, and everything about your partner interests and fascinates you.

# The relationship stage of disturbances

This stage usually forces its way into a happy romance after a few months of blissful courting. The honeymoon stage starts to wane, and this phase of the relationship eventually finds its way into love. You can’t *and shouldn’t avoid* this stage, because this is the first time both of you start to reveal each other’s true sides in the presence of the other partner.

Do you remember the first fight or angry disagreement you and your partner had? For the first time ever in the relationship, both of you confront each other over a conflict, even though it’s sorted out quickly.

# The creation of opinions stage of the relationship

In this stage, both of you create opinions about each other. As the months pass by, both of you know what to expect from each other, and you make an assumption about your partner’s commitment towards the relationship.

When these opinions and expectations about your partner differ now and then in real life, it can either leave you ecstatic or depressed.

You don’t expect your man to buy you flowers, but he does. You feel ecstatic. At the same time, you expect him to pick you up from the airport on time. But he arrives an hour later because he forgot all about picking you up. It depresses you.

# The moulding stage of the relationship

You have your own expectations from an ideal partner. And in this stage, both of you try hard to mould each other to fit your own wants in a perfect partner.

No one likes this stage, because this phase of the relationship is about subtly making your partner change their behavior or habits to suit your own needs and convenience. But as annoying as this stage is, it’s a part of the relationship that is inevitable, because it helps both of you understand each other’s expectations from the relationship.

# The happy attachment stage of a relationship

If the relationship survives past the moulding stage, both of you may have changed equally for each other and understood each other’s expectations. In this stage, the relationship cruises along perfectly and both of you may be blissfully happy with each other.

Almost always, this is the stage when both of you feel like a perfect match. You may even decide to get engaged or get married. This happy stage is also the stage of attachment when both of you truly feel connected to each other and love each other intensely.

# The stage of doubts

It’s been several years since both of you have been in a relationship with each other. And somewhere along the way, doubts start to creep in. The intensity of the doubts depend on how happy both of you are in the relationship with each other.

You start to think of your past relationships, your exes, and other prospective partners. You tie your happiness in life with your relationship. If you’re unhappy, you blame it on the relationship.

# The sexual exploration or bust stage of the relationship

This is the phase of the relationship when your sex life starts to play a pivotal role. Both your sex drives may change or one of you may lose interest in having sex with the other partner.

In this stage, you either give up on passionate sex and settle with boring sex once in a rare while, or constantly look for ways to make sex more exciting. If sexual interests start differing here, one of you may end up having an affair or shrink away into self-gratification.

# The stage of complete trust in a relationship

This is the happy stage when both of you love each other and trust each other completely. But at the same time, the unbreakable trust in each other could also turn into taking each other for granted.

In this phase of the relationship, both of you know the direction of the relationship and both of you are completely happy with each other and find it easy to predict each other’s behavior and decisions. But with stability in love comes the urge to take each other for granted.