Categories: Viral Post

The 5 Stages of Love: Why Too Many Stop at Stage 3

We all want real, lasting love, whether we are in our 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s, or beyond. Yet too many marriages fall apart and most people don’t know why. They mistakenly believe that they have chosen the wrong partner. After going through the grieving process, they start looking again. But after more than forty years as a marriage and family counselor I have found that most people are looking for love in all the wrong places. They don’t understand that Stage three of the five stages of love is not the end, but the real beginning for achieving real, lasting love:

Stage 1: Falling In Love

Falling in love is nature’s trick to get humans to pick a mate so that our species carries on. It feels so wonderful because we are awash in hormones such as dopamine, oxytocin, serotonin, testosterone, and estrogen. Falling in love also feels great because we project all our hopes and dreams on our lover. We imagine that they will fulfill our desires, give us all the things we didn’t get as children, deliver on all the promises our earlier relationships failed to fulfill. We are sure we will remain in love forever. And because we are besotted with “love hormones,” we’re not aware of any of this.

When we’re in love, we dismiss naysayers like curmudgeon George Bernard Shaw who cautioned:

When two people are under the influence of the most violent, most insane, most delusive, and most transient of passions, they are required to swear that they will remain in that excited, abnormal, and exhausting condition continuously until death do them part.

Stage 2: Becoming A Couple

At this stage our love deepens and we join together as a couple. This is a time when we have children and raise them. If we’re past the child-rearing stage, it’s the time when our couple bond deepens and develops. It’s a time of togetherness and joy. We learn what the other person likes and we expand our individual lives to begin developing a life of “the two of us.”

During this phase we experience less of the falling head-over-heels “in love” feelings. We feel more bonded with our partner. We feel warm and cuddly. The sex may not be as wild, but it’s deeply satisfying. We feel safe, cared for, cherished and appreciated. We feel close and protected. We often think this is the ultimate level of love and we expect it to go on forever. We are often blind-sided by the turn-around of stage three.

Stage 3: Disillusionment

No one told us about Stage three in understanding love and marriage. Stage three is where my first two marriages collapsed and for too many relationships this is the beginning of the end. This is a period where things begin to feel bad. It can occur slowly or can feel like a switch is flipped and everything goes wrong. Little things begin to bother us. We feel less loved and cared for. We feel trapped and want to escape.

We become more irritable and angry, or hurt and withdrawn. We may stay busy at work, or with the family, but the dissatisfactions mount. We wonder where the person we once loved has gone. We long for the love we once had, but we don’t know where it went, or how to get it back. One or the other partner wants out, or sometimes people go on “existing together,” but without really feeling intimate.

This is a time we often get sick in body, mind, and soul. In our marriage, Carlin and I both began having problems with our hearts (heartache?) and were diagnosed with atrial fibrillation. I began having serious problems with erections. To be truthful, there were times when it was miserable and we both thought about leaving the relationship.

But we didn’t give up, we kept going. There’s an old adage, “When you’re going through hell, don’t stop.” This seems to be true of this stage of life. The positive side of Stage three is that the heat burns away a lot of our illusions about ourselves and our partner. We have an opportunity to become more loving and appreciate the person we are with, not the projections we had placed on them as our “ideal mate.”

Carlin and I have now been together over thirty-five years. We’ve moved into the next stages of love and feel blessed to have learned the skills for negotiating the stage of disillusionment and can truly enjoy the later stages of love.

Stage 4: Creating Real, Lasting Love

One of the gifts of confronting the unhappiness in Stage three is we can get to the core of what causes the pain and conflict. Like most people, Carlin and I grew up in families that were dysfunctional. Both my father and mother suffered from depression and my Dad tried to take his own life when I was five years old. Carlin’s father was an angry, violent man. Her mother left him in order to protect herself and her daughter. We all have wounds and the wounds need healing if we’re to have a relationship that is real and loving.

Ongoing research from The Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) Study demonstrates conclusively that childhood trauma can impact our physical, emotional and relational health. For the first time, I made the connection between my father’s attempted suicide when I was five and my adult depression and erectile dysfunction.

 

Carlin and I learned to be allies in helping each other understand and heal our wounds. As we began to heal, the love and laughter we thought we had lost began to flow again. We began to see each other as wonderful beings who had suffered greatly in the past and had come together to love each other and help heal our old wounds from childhood.

There’s nothing more satisfying than being with a partner who sees you and loves you for who you are. They understand that your hurtful behavior is not because you are mean and unloving, but because you have been wounded in the past and the past still lives with you. As we better understand and accept our partner, we can learn to love ourselves ever more deeply.

Stage 5: Using The Power Of Two To Change The World

No one has to remind us that the world is not doing too well. There are continuous wars and conflicts. Racial violence seems to be everywhere. We wonder whether humans can survive. I wondered, “If we can’t even find peace between two people who love each other, what chance do we have to create a world that can work for all its peoples?”

But now, I look at the flip side of that question. If we can learn to overcome our differences and find real, lasting love in our relationships, perhaps we can work together to find real, lasting love in the world.

I believe that every couple has an opportunity to use the “power of two” to address some aspect of the world’s problems that touch their lives. Carlin and I are particularly tuned to issues that face men and women at midlife. We are writing a book, You Two: Renewing Your Mid-Life Marriage for Real Lasting Love.

We’re also interested in your own journey. Please share your own experiences on the path of real, lasting love. Together we can make a difference in the world.




  • manoj

    View Comments

    • Very wonderful article now I have learn lot from my past but not yet giving up I still HOLD it on.. just few yrs ago when my wife change her mind without any valid or acceptable reason she just suddenly change her mind and I don't in what way she LOVE going around and full fun of her JOB.. She just left us me and my Kids and what it hurts a lot is that the TIME I needed her most she was not around tel now she don't even communicate with me. Yes she do sometimes to my children.. GOD I love her o lot more than I ever know the meaning of LOVE.

    • Thank you for sharing your story with us. We must love ourselves first before we can love someone else. I do not like the term falling in love for this incurs a stopping point. What i like to say is growing in love as this incurs continuity and in a relationship each person must be open and willing to journey on the path of growth.

    • Just like we say life is a journey so is love. You cannot get into love and expect it to grow without you propelling it to greater heights.
      I do agree with you when you say the third stage is when most people fall out of love. Many of us when we get into relationships we tend to think that everything will run smoothly and that we think that love cannot fall apart. How wrong we are. Its in fact true that when we begin to know each others traits the interest starts fading away. If its not the about the traits it could be the physical part of it. You fall in love with som3one because of their looks or body shape and that for sure cannot sustain a relationship. When people start seeing the real peraon they are dating i don't know whether its usually a shock to many or what. But the thing is we usually assume all the negatives we may see when we are dating during the begining of the relationship. Thats why when we get to the third stage we start seeing like we got a raw deal. The truth is we are supposed to be ready for anything, when it comes up then you are not caught unawares. There is no one who is perfect we should always expect that things or someone will change. This is a really good article brings out the reality of relationships.

    Recent Posts

    Heart Attack Causes and its Solution

    What is the Main Cause of a Heart Attack? What is its Solution? A heart attack is the blockage of… Read More

    4 months ago

    Understanding the Debt Ceiling: Its Impact, Importance, and Implications

    In the vast economic arena, one term that often takes center stage, inciting extensive debates and discussions, is the "debt… Read More

    9 months ago

    De-Dollarization: The New World Order of Currency and Its Global Impact

    De-Dollarization: The Changing Face of Global Finance The financial landscape is in a state of flux, with an intriguing economic… Read More

    10 months ago

    Unstoppable Bayern Munich: The Story Behind Their 11th Consecutive Bundesliga Title

    The curtains closed on a dramatic Bundesliga season with Bayern Munich standing tall once again, clinching their 11th straight title.… Read More

    10 months ago

    Celine Dion Cancels Concert Tour Due to Deteriorating Stiff-Person Syndrome

    The Unfolding Story of Celine Dion's Health In recent news that has left fans across the globe stunned, iconic singer… Read More

    10 months ago

    Navigating the Crossroads: LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the LA Lakers’ Uncertain Future

    As the echoes of the recent NBA season start to fade, the attention of enthusiasts is firmly glued to one… Read More

    10 months ago