All relationships go through predictable stages as they grow and develop. This is especially true for romantic relationships.

What stage is your relationship in?

Or, if you are not in a relationship, at what stage do your relationships always end and why?

Identifying the stages of your relationship and the attributes, stumbling blocks and joys of each stage can help you negotiate through your relationship with more success, peace and love.

Stage One: The Honeymoon
According to love songs and fairytales, this stage is what love is supposed to be like. You meet, you connect, you fall in love. Everything seems right. Nothing seems out of place. Even if some things don't seem right, you are full of hope they will work themselves out.

When it starts and how long it lasts: This stage can start from day one, but it's usually in effect within the first month and can last between three to six months.

The joy: You feel more alive, more expanded, more in touch with life, beauty, joy, maybe spirituality, and perhaps yourself. You have hope. You feel exhilarated, or at least exited. You have fun. These are all very wonderful feelings and should be celebrated and enjoyed.

The stumbling block: You may overlook whether your partner is truly compatible with you and rush into the depth of the relationship too soon or with the wrong person. And this, in turn, can mean you will breakup and get hurt down the road.

What to do: Enjoy, have fun, but slow down and don't count on a future together yet. Get to know each other first. If you are right for each other, there is no reason to rush in -- you will have a lifetime together. If you are wrong for each other, you will save yourself much heartache.

Stage Two: The Discovery
During this stage, the initial excitement of being together is subdued so you can actually discover who the other person really is. You and your partner begin to discover each other's quirks and neuroses, and you uncover things that bug you about each other. You also begin to discover what you truly love and respect about one another. Your communication should deepen to a soulful level, where you begin to open up to each other.

When it starts and how long it lasts: This stage starts between three and six months and can last for a number of years, depending on how comfortable the couple is with self-disclosure and how fast or slow the couple wants to progress in emotional intimacy.

The joy: The joy is the discovery; you are close enough to be able to glimpse the other person, his or her vulnerabilities, beauty, even quirks -- which you may think are cute. The joy is also in seeing evidence that you have chosen the right person (if in fact you have such evidence), as well as in deep communication and budding emotional intimacy.

The stumbling block: You may begin to discover things that drive you crazy about each other. You may also discover that the two of you do things in very different fashions, or have vastly different interests. This is a time of choice and you may not want to choose.

What to do: Look with open eyes at both the beauty -- internal and external -- of your partner and the ugliness and quirks you are discovering. This is a time of choice and often in relationships we choose what feels good now over choosing what will feel good in the long run -- and we suffer for it. Decide if this person is a good fit for you for the long run and wants the same future as you.

Stage Three: The Commitment
This is the stage most singles fantasize about -- the place where the relationship is settled, you know you are together, and you can finally relax. This is the stage most couples try to rush into and arrive at too soon. And it is a wonderful stage, but rather than an end of a process, it is only the beginning. In many ways, a relationship does not truly begin until a couple commits to each other.

When it starts and how long it lasts: It starts once each person decides to commit to either live together or get married, or to another form of deep commitment.

The joy: The joy is the sense of having arrived and no longer having to strive to win your partner. The joy is the discovery of whom your partner is when committed to you, because commitment brings out a change in the behavior of each person. The joy is having someone to watch movies with and cook dinner with and hang out with and do ordinary things. The joy is having a person you love to share a life with.

The stumbling block: Many people begin to take each other for granted during this stage. Because they have arrived, they begin to pay less attention to the relationship and to their partner. And because one of the benefits we seek from a relationship is the attention from our partner, when it lags, problems begin. The other stumbling block is that we may not pay enough attention to communication. Issues that need to be communicated may fall by the wayside for fear of rocking the boat. They will come back to haunt the relationship later.

What to do: Enjoy the togetherness and your new commitment, but remember to do two things: Make your relationship a priority no matter what else is happening in your life. And make sure your lines of communication are open; you are speaking to and listening to each other.