5 stages of relationships

"There seems 5 stages of any relationship to me.They're attraction, acceptance, progression, maintenance & consolidation. At the onset of relationship, it's mostly physical attraction. Then comes the mental acceptance followed by mutual progression. The last two stages are really difficult but nevertheless most important.It requires careful maintenance of a relationship to give it an lasting consolidation. That's when you can say the relationship to have truly matured. The initial steps are mostly taken subconsciously but last two require conscious efforts from the concerned persons. They don't just happen on their own. It demands a gr8 amount of care & commitment, patience & perseverance, sacrifice & sensibility to achieve such kind of eternal relationship! " This thought I've written a few months back after the discussion with a lady friend about relationship, particularly that of couples, be it a married one or that claim to be in love with each other. That got me to think what the real love should mean especially in committed relationships like marriage. This reminded me a quote from a writing which probably should satisfy all the requirements of the definition of true love in any lasting relationship. It says,"પ્રેમ એ પવિત્રતાની મૂર્તિ છે. એ હ્રદયમાં ઉદભવેલું નૈસર્ગિક ઝરણું છે. વફાદારી અને સમર્પણ એના ફેફસાં છે. સહનશક્તિ અને શ્રધ્ધાપૂર્વક વિશ્વાસ એનો પ્રાણવાયુ છે. અદ્વૈતતા અને અભેદત્વની અનુભૂતિ એ એનું જીવનબળ છે. પ્રેમ એટલે પોતાને ગમતી વ્યક્તિને પ્રસન્નતા અર્પવાની બિનશરતી તૈયારી!" Sometimes we fail to distinguish between romance & love. Romance is an art of expressing your emotions to your loved ones. It is used to charm someone with an expressive act like giving flowers or candle-light dinner etc. Love is all about feeling other persons emotions & caring for your loved ones. It may be in the form of wearing the clothes of his/her choice or arranging for financial securities like insurance, bank deposits etc., in case anything happens to you. It may not look romantic at all but it may be better than plain romance in terms of caring & loving. Romance is all physical & outwardly. Love is absolutely inwardly & eternal. Romance may or may not be there in your relationship, depending upon your nature. But love is the most essential ingredient for any successful relation. As someone has rightly said that the formula for the successful relationship is,"Treat all disasters as if they were trivialities but never treat a triviality as if it was a disaster!" If we can get these words right in our mind, I don't think we'll have any problem with having & handling our most important relationships. किशोरदा का ये गाना भी तो यही बात का इशारा कर रहा है,
"कुछ लोग इक रोज़ जो बिछड़ जातें हैं,
वो हजारों के आने से मिलते नहीं;
उम्रभर चाहे कोई पुकारा करे उनका नाम;
वो फ़िर नहीं आते, वो फ़िर नहीं आते।
कल तड़पना पड़े याद में जिनकी,
रोक लो रूठकर उनको जाने न दो;
बादमें प्यारके चाहे भेजो हजारों सलाम;
वो फ़िर नहीं आते, वो फ़िर नहीं आते।
जिंदगीके सफर में गुज़र जातें हैं जो मकाम;
वो फ़िर नहीं आते, वो फ़िर नहीं आते।"