Saying the long-distance relationships are hard would be an understatement. It’s difficult being apart from the one you love. You wish for mornings to wake up next to them, eat with them, or share new experiences with them, but you just can’t. As with any other relationship, it requires commitment and faithfulness to your partner. Lots of people say that long-distance relationships never work. However, there are lots of couples proving that they’re wrong. There are lots of factors in play when a couple is separated by many miles.
Although no two relationships are ever the same, here are the 4 best tips to make LDRs work:
1. Communicate with your partner.
At this day and age, it’s not as difficult to communicate with partners from far away anymore. With so many social media applications out there, partners can talk to each other even from miles and miles away. However, it is also important to connect and not just communicate. Talk about the things that make you happy, your passions, and/or your dreams. Talking just for the sake of talking can be tiring, and you’ll feel bummed out when you can’t think of a new topic to keep the ball rolling.
Communication also means being honest about yourself. Talk about how you feel in the relationship, your fears, or your expectations. Be emotionally naked and vulnerable with each other. Even if you’re not physically together, you can still connect with each other on so many things.
2. Know your partner’s schedule.
It is good to know your partner’s schedule so you won’t worry about him/her as much. What is the time that he goes to the office? When does he take his lunch? Around what time does he need undivided attention for work? You can also be the one to remind your partner to eat already or to begin preparing.
If there is a time difference between the two of you, then you know you won’t wake up at around the same time, so don’t get worried or irritated when the other person doesn’t reply immediately. You can’t talk all the time because you two have personal schedules too, and while that may sound sad, it is very true. Don’t feel bad if you miss each other online by a few minutes, you can’t try scheduling or telling each other when you are free to talk.
3. Have some activities together even when you’re apart.
This is important as well in building a great relationship. You learn a lot about each other when you’re doing activities together, and you can still enjoy things even when you’re apart. You can listen to the same playlist at the same time or watch a movie and tell each other your thoughts about the scenes. You can also buy the same book and plan to read it together, setting a chapter limit for a week so you read at the same pace. You can also watch each other’s favorite T.V. series and understand your partner better.
You can also include your partner in whatever you were doing. It can be as simple as walking somewhere and taking point-of-view videos of the path you took while talking in the background. It is nice to include activities with your partner in your daily routine.
4. Focus on your growth too.
As much as being in a couple is wonderful, don’t forget to focus on your own growth too aside from the relationship you are building. You have your shared dreams, but you two also have your own careers and passions that you are aiming for. You have different ways of spending your time and making friends. You have to remember that your partner is his/her own individual person too.
The great thing about this is that you have someone who motivates you and believes in you other than yourself. There is also someone else to share the good news to and be happy about each other’s successes. What’s important is to pull each other up and bring out the best in each other.
You may be physically apart as long as your heart and soul are entwined, the relationship will continue to grow. You know what they say, “Distance means so little when someone means so much,” and this couldn’t be more true.
