Do you stay in your current relationship, or go? If you commit to the man who is making you tea in the mornings, and bringing you your favourite chocolate, will you run the risk of missing out on the one person who really, truly 'gets' you.

Or, if you decide to run for the hills, thinking the grass looks a little greener on the other side, is there a possibility you will forever regret leaving behind the one person who went the extra mile to put a smile on your face?

Psychologist Allison Keating is director of the bWell Clinic in Malahide, and a regular contributor on TV3's Ireland AM. The relationship expert outlines the dangers of both settling too soon, and leaving it too late -- but you'll have to decide whether the person you're dating truly is the love of your life.

Five dangers of settling too soon

1 You may not be emotionally mature enough. If you settle too young, you may not have developed enough as individuals. If either of you changes, it may change the dynamic of the relationship, and leave one partner feeling isolated.

2 You may not know each other well enough. The dizzy stages of a relationship burn out after a while. Compassionate love needs time to develop, and if your relationship is based on physical elements, you may find there isn't a whole lot to talk about doing normal everyday tasks. Everyday relationship tasks require you to be upstanding and real intimacy comes in the form of verbal communication.

3 Hopefully when you marry, you marry for life, but some people say that they regret not 'sowing their wild oats'. These regrets can develop into fantasies of lost opportunity, and if not discussed and not fully understood, may lead to one partner venturing outside the relationship to engage in activities they perceive they have missed out upon.

4 Our initial instincts when it comes to relationships are often the correct ones. Watch how you feel when they say something that doesn't sit right with you, or if you don't like the manner with which they treat someone else. Listen to those alarm bells. Our brains are hardwired to notice the negative. As with any good evolutionary defence mechanism, it may help you in the long run.

5 If you don't feel they're going to be the great love of your life, why are you staying with this person? It is important to feel that your relationship is special, that as a couple you are 'different' to other couples. It is this experience that makes up a couple's unique signature, a dynamic that makes them feel like a unit. The glue of a relationship is built in these 'special' feelings that your unique bond is created by the two of you being together. If you settle, and you think the person is nice, or you have known each other a long time, everyone expects you to get married, or it's the next logical step, think again: committing to a marriage is a lifelong contract to be entered into joyfully.

- Anna Coogan