The scenario is almost always the same. A boy meats a girl and they fall for each other instantly. They start having the time of their lives and everything starts working perfectly for them. Until the unthinkable happens. One of them is destined to leave!
Sounds familiar? Is this a plot of a teen drama or is it reality? Sometimes reality translates from fiction more than you can think.
After you separate with your girlfriend or boyfriend geographically but you still decide to maintain your relationship, it means that you have decided to enter the murky waters of a long distance relationship. Nobody has prepared you for something like this. There is no way to prepare. The best you can do is to coast along and see where it may take you.
But before you start having doubts whether a long distance relationship is good for you, here are some things to consider. They might help you understand better how to do it.
Learn to Cherish Your Time Together
Once you enter a long distance relationship, you will have to learn to value your time together more. Occasional visits from time to time will become the only way for you to see each other and spend time together in person. You need to learn to cherish these moments as time is the only thing that you have.
Time also becomes your greatest enemy as the more the time for her to leave closes the worse you feel. But don’t view it like that. Try to spend each and every moment of the time you have together as best as possible. This will lead to you not regretting the decision you made and will leave you hungry for more next time you visit each other.
Get Creative
The time you spend apart will be the worse period of your life. You will have to get over certain crisis and horrible thoughts. If you are strong enough your relationship will endure. But sometimes you have to get creative. Try to surprise her every time she is away by doing something special.
These can be big or small surprises and will require that you get creative. A perfect example would be sending flowers online which is a perfect surprise that she will not expect. You can even ask her to watch a movie together while lying in bed apart, but looking at each other on Skype.
Try Not To Call Each Other Every Day
Distance is something that kills a relationship, but it does not mean that you have to hear each other every moment you are away. It is important to maintain a connection and talk to each other regularly, but doing it too often can kill a relationship faster than you may think. Most couples make a mistake and try to talk to each other all the time. This is probably because they start to panic, but in truth, this has a counter effect, which they may not recover anymore.
So in this case, try to talk to each other less than you used to. This will give you time to experience something new and you will have more things to talk about when you talk to each other. Even better, it will be even more exciting when you see each other in person.
Prepare to Make Certain Sacrifices
When maintaining your long distance relationship becomes a priority for a couple, you have to know that certain sacrifices need to be made. There are going to be some tough choices in front of you and you need to make sure that you make the right ones in order to continue the relationship. Depending on how you act, thins will flourish further or will end abruptly.
Nobody can answer these questions for you and you need to face them on your own. There isn’t a specific guide to resolve these issues and only you will know the answer to them. The only thing that you should know is that there are going to be a lot of them and the sooner you know it the easier will it be to make the choices later on.
Create Rituals
In order to maintain a relationship from a distance, try to make certain rituals. It will be similar like when you are physically together but this time you have to make something when you are apart. If you are creative enough you can make all kinds of small rituals for the two of you to follow to keep things exciting.
This can be something as small as sending good morning messages to each other every time you wake up or something like arranging a walk using Snapchat or Skype. The most important thing is that it is fun for you and that you can’t wait to do it.