Your friends and family view you as a committed couple. You may pool your financial resources, make joint decisions as a couple , and begin having children. It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of this new connection.

If we’ve remained closed off and worked our hardest to keep things going smoothly, we only know that level. And the truth is there are deeper, richer, more intimate layers to us as humans and to our relationships. Every time I felt upset I had to force myself to bring up my fear of our relationship ending, fear of being abandoned, and fear that we would never connect on a deep level. There is no shame in having these fears, and it’s not a sign that the relationship is doomed. Knowing that you know about the different stages of a relationship, you can better understand where you and your partner are as a couple.

When someone pushes your boundaries in an unhealthy way, they don’t respect you. Love bombing seems wonderful when it’s happening, but it’s often a very early sign of things to come. Morgan Mandriota writes for top10.com and is also a freelance sex and wellness writer with bylines at Betches, Health.com, and BuzzFeed. Her insight has been quoted in Cosmopolitan, Tinder, The New York Times, and more. When Morgan isn’t writing about orgasms, dating struggles, or CBD, she loves traveling, eating tacos, and training in Brazilian jiu-jitsu. If you both are career oriented and want to take over the world together, then you might have met your match.

This can occur on your first date, or right before it, or even right after it, but there will likely be an awkward feelings exchange for a bit of time before you settle into your new normal. It can be awkward to start dating your best friend after just being pals for years. It can be awkward to take innocent Twitter flirting to a stage where you are now going to a nice dinner and talking in real life. It can be awkward to interact with someone after sleeping together or kissing for the first time. When you’re getting closer to someone there are a lot of barriers to overcome and some are easier than other.

They Make Fun of You

That said, it’s good to know which of the phases of dating you’re in, and what some of their characteristics are, so you can adjust your behavior and expectations accordingly. I thought relationships were all about communication.” They are. But, when you’ve just started dating someone the constant texting or sending pictures is too much too soon. You don’t want to end up telling her all about your day via text, only to have nothing else to talk about when you meet up.

You move through this emotional valley-of-darkness and come through the other side. A bit rough at the edges, some lingering regrets or resentments perhaps, but the positives heavily replace the negatives. You both were honest, you both learned to be assertive and compassionate, you both are able to understand the humanness of the other. You enter into the final lap towards a commitment or marriage with a realistic perspective.

Sometimes, the game gets even more complicated than that. I’ve even set my timer to wait an hour before responding to a text. Even that, however, might not be sufficient to bridge the gap between your communication styles. In a healthy relationship, you have chemistry in person and when you’re not together, whether it be via text, on the phone, or on social media. When you are first starting to talk, experts actually recommend that you keep texting in moderation. “If your relationship is new, minimize your texting,” Dr. Cristina Bosch and Dr. John Robinson, owners of The Hormone Zone, told Bustle.

As long as you communicate your expectations, you should be able to figure it out together. He pretty much only contacts me for plans or to tell me what’s going on in his life. And although I love hanging out in person, I do wish that IRL connection translated more to his texting habits. As is, I don’t feel comfortable texting him to tell him how things are going. I wouldn’t confide in him that I’m feeling stressed out or hit him up to tell him something funny that I just saw. If you’re experiencing early relationship anxiety, your feelings are valid and are often trying to relay valuable information, Juicebox coach and sex educator Stella Harris tells mbg.

By this point in the relationship, the initial glow has faded and reality has set in. In addition, the pressures of everyday life can wear on your relationship, making what would otherwise have been minor disagreements snowball into major conflicts. If she’s been your girlfriend for just a few weeks or months, then you don’t want to overwhelm Look at these her with your attention. Because too much of a good thing is bad and eventually you’ll both start getting on each other’s nerves, even if you love each other to bits. On the flip side, you also want to see each other often enough to keep that initial spark alive. So you don’t end up single and wondering why you don’t have a girlfriend again.

In a way that he is adding value to you and your already awesome life. But, they don’t want to be with a woman who is needy. And to a man, there’s a big difference between him feeling your neediness and feeling needed by you.

What are your goals and dreams in life?

You overlook flaws or red flags because your mind has already convinced you that this has towork. Would they still be someone you want to spend your time with? If you enjoy their company so much that you’d want to be with them whether or not they were “The One,” then you’re likely attracted to them, not just a relationship. So exciting, in fact, that it’s easy to get swept up in your life as a new couple and let the routines from your single life dwindle. Maybe you see your friends less often or spend less time on your hobby to spend more time with your new partner.

Dawn Maslar, author of Men Chase, Women Choose previously told Elite Daily. “When a person falls in love, research has found that his or her serotonin drops to the level of someone with OCD . This cause the person to feel obsessed. This may lead to over-texting.” Trust allows you the space to feel comfortable being your true self around your partner, not just the “best version” of yourself you tend to present on the first date or two.

More: Dating

A major stage of dating, however, is that moment when you know you have a crush or legitimate feelings for another person. A compliment is nice, but nothing but compliments makes it obvious what they’re after. On the other hand, if they are way too tight with money in a way that makes you feel uncomfortable, or if they insist on paying for everything and it makes you uncomfortable, that can be a problem, too. Basically, if they don’t value money the way you do, that’s a bad sign. When I opened up and took responsibility for my feelings, it brought us closer together. Acknowledging my anxiety without expecting him to change anything diffused the tension within our relationship, and I believe this is why we are still together today.

Deanna Cobden is the CEO and Founder of Dateworks. She is a professional Dating Coach, Relationship Expert, Author and Online Dating Consultant with over 15 years of coaching experience and education. Deanna’s dating and relationship advice and expertise has been featured on notable outlets including ELLE, CBC TV, The National Post, Global TV, Elite Daily, City TV, PopSugarLove, YourTango, eHarmony and more.