Romance and Relationships: What Happens After The Honeymoon Period?
“True love isn’t just about the butterflies—it’s about choosing each other every day, even when the honeymoon ends.”
Image generated by ChatGPT for Single to Shaadi.
The start of a relationship is so easy. You’re both absolutely besotted with each other, you want to spend all of your time together and you’re happy to overlook any potential ‘faults’ or red flags in the other person because in your heart it really does feel like you’ve found your soulmate. You two just click- you stay up talking all night about your feelings, send cute texts during the day at work and go well out of your way to make sure the other is happy. It’s a blissful time- science has shown that the initial feelings you experience in a relationship have the same effect on the brain as drugs! But as time goes on, you start to settle back into a routine. Life gets in the way; instead of chatting into the night, you both retire to bed and fall asleep exhausted. The cute quirks you loved about your partner in the beginning start to become an irritation, and you see that the person you’re with is a normal, flawed human being (just like yourself, and everyone else!) At this stage, lots of people can panic. They stress that the spark is gone, or worse, end the relationship because they crave the highs of those early days with someone new. However, if you have a good connection, a foundation of friendship, trust and respect, then the worst thing you can do is throw it all away. Things aren’t always butterflies in the stomach, life isn’t a fairytale after all. But relationships can still be incredible, even much later down the line.
In the early days, chances are evenings were all about romantic date nights and you couldn’t keep your hands off each other. As time goes on, you have to put that little bit more effort in. It’s so easy to become comfortable in a relationship, you end up sitting on the sofa each night playing on your phone or doing your own separate things and before you know it, you’ve become more like friends. Little things can bring that initial excitement back- shop for some sexy lingerie, look for an adam and eve promo code if you don’t want to spend a fortune. Make dinner that bit more special every now and again, cook their favourite meal and light a candle at the table rather than eating off your lap in front of the tv- it doesn’t always have to be fancy restaurants to be special. Give them a massage or run them a bubble bath, these small romantic gestures really do count.
When you first start out in a relationship, you both feel incredibly generous when it comes to your time, effort and resources. But as things go on and you resume real life, this won’t always be the case. Know from the start that it won’t always be 50/50, for example if your other half has had a bad day then you might need to pick up the slack emotionally. If either of you struggle financially throughout your time together, or even with things like mental health issues, the other needs to be the rock for a while. However, it’s these kinds of things that strengthen a relationship. Knowing someone is there for you (even when they don’t have to be), and going above and beyond can give you security, and build a bond that truly stands the test of time. Be prepared to be unselfish, and step up for your partner when needed.
