Let love grow by staying in the present moment. Stay in the present moment and simply enjoy your newfound love. Itll be natural to think about what marriage to him would be like or to dream up plans for your wedding, but dont let planning for the future dominate your thoughts during the early months of courtship. For the time being, dont think about taking care of the future. The future will take care of itself if you take care of the present moment instead by enjoying yourself and his company.

Staying in the present moment also helps you stay connected to the truth. Lets say youre thinking about your wedding and how nice it would be to live in his house instead of your condo, and everyone you know is telling you how lucky you are to be with such a great guy. The positive validation from him and positive reinforcement from your friends creates a smooth sailing effect that can propel you into planning your future with him. Dont ponder your future with him until youre certain about the present. In this instance, staying in the present moment protects you from the trap of getting carried away.

Let love grow through courtship rituals. Bring romance into your relationship so you can draw on your shared memories of them in later years to nurture your love after the children arrive and you have more demands on your time. Fond memories of the past are built today, one day at a time. Court each other every day, no matter how long youve been dating. It keeps your love feeling fresh and alive.

Let love grow by remembering what you have at stake. Your heart, your future, your dreams all are solid reasons to carefully control the pace of the courtship. If you can remember how important it is to give love a chance to grow, itll help you resist the temptation of sex with a possible Mr. Wrong or sex ill-timed with a possible Mr. Right.

Let love grow by enjoying being seduced. Seduction is half the fun of a courtship anticipating seeing him, looking forward to his attention, enjoying the way he treats you, the thrill of his kisses, looking forward to deepening intimacy. Perhaps not so obviously, once youre seduced, the excitement of seduction ends. Take your time getting used to his affection and savor the one-time-only experience of its newness.

Let love grow by developing trust. Trust is to love like water is to fish. Trust supports your love and keeps it alive. If you want a lifetime of love with the right man, be certain you can trust him to be faithful to you. He must be truthful in his conversations with you, and he must keep his word. If you doubt that the man in your life is telling you the truth, or if you wonder if he actually is where he says hell be, then you wont be able to trust him with you heart. He must be truthful and must have integrity if you want to be able to trust him with your heart. Likewise, you must reciprocate these qualities to him. Your love for each other will grow when it is supported by trust.