Post-Rapture: The Beginning of True Love

Post-Rapture: The Beginning of True Love thumbnail image

Grow a great RelationshipOnce you have spent a little time suffering from infatuation syndrome, you may start to feel less satisfied with your partner.  This infatuation hangover happens during the transitional stage between the initial stage of the relationship and true love.  There are subtle changes over time, but common issues that tend to occur include:

  • Despite months of identical desires, you don’t always want the same things lately
  • Little habits that were once endearing start to annoy you
  • You are no longer always the main priority in your partner’s life
  • Loving gestures, such as flowers and love notes, decrease
  • You are hesitant to give as much as before due to your feeling that you are not getting anything in return anymore
  • You feel as though your partner is moving away from you
  • There is more silence between you than before
  • You don’t have sex as often and when you do, it isn’t quite the same as before
  • You feel a need for space and more private time
  • You start seeing negative traits in your partner that you did not see before
  • You no longer give the benefit of the doubt and tend to just to negative conclusions
  • You may now be thinking: Wow! This sounds terrible! How can this be true love?

Well, understandably, as time passes, the novelty of your relationship begins to wear off. Research demonstrates that somewhere between six months and two years after the beginning of the relationship, a normal period of neutrality sets in and what you are left with is a level of familiarity that was not there before.

The beginning of love is a lot like most people’s experience with moving somewhere new.  When you first move into town, each restaurant, shop, and tree-lined street is a new and exciting adventure.  But over time, you begin to adapt to the area and get into a routine.  You have tried all of the wonderful appetizers at the corner diner and have window-shopped time and time again down Main Street.  If someone were to ask you if you enjoyed living in the town, you would reply that you absolutely do, but the day-to-day existence is no longer the adrenaline rush is once was.

Despite these relationship changes being a natural and common shift over time, if they sound less than desirable to you, think about which habits from the list above you have fallen into.  Making a conscious effort to rectify any burgeoning problems within the relationship will set the tone for making your relationship a priority for years to come

(Source: The Truth About Love by Pat Love, Ed.D)