Long distance relationships can be filled with challenges that couples across the block from each other never face. On the other hand, the creative ways you find to stay connected while living apart will increase your creativity when living together.
It’s incredibly easy to take another person for granted. You assume they will always be there or always love you… just because they always have. But if you’ve been separated for a long time, you can draw on those memories to bring you closer together when you finally live together. This is a bonus that other couples only experience when they consciously take the time to be creative in order to connect.
While staying connected is challenging, learning these skills will improve your relationship later on.
Take the time while you’re apart and make an effort to communicate at least once a day, more often if you can. You can maintain an emotional connection with short and frequent communication. They don’t have to be long, in-depth, heart-to-heart conversations, but can be short text messages about your day, asking for advice, or just letting your partner know you’re thinking of them.
However, let’s not stalk or choke. Calling or texting every hour, waking them up before the alarm clock goes off, or ordering pizza to be shipped to their home for dinner at night is a bit much. Instead, strive for substantive and detailed communications about your thoughts, ask questions, seek advice, or share what happened to you that day.
But let’s face it. After a while, text messages and phone calls can get boring. So break the shape and make a video for your partner. Use your phone to record yourself on your way to work with the phone in the passenger seat pointed at you. Chat on the phone as if your partner is sitting in the seat next to you.
Write a love letter. The art of snail mail is failing in our society today. And yet there is something so much more personal and loving about a piece of paper held in your hand. Write your partner a thank you note for listening to you while you bitch about your boss. Or write an invitation to your next date.
Try to visit each other as often as possible. Long haul can mean a 30 minute drive or a 10 hour drive. Online dating has made it easier than ever to meet people from across the country. Before that, you actually had to get in the car and drive somewhere to see the Rocky Mountains and meet a cowboy! Plan as much time together as possible and spend it with other people. We live in community and if you spend it with other people, you actually get to know each other better.
Take turns who travels. It may be easier for one of you to travel than the other, but it’s important that you both make the effort to see each other. Otherwise, the one who does all the traveling might annoy the one who doesn’t travel. If you can both get away with it, try to occasionally meet somewhere in the middle. You won’t be able to spend time with friends, but it’s a nice way to disconnect and connect with your partner. Just don’t let it be the only way to meet, or your understanding of life together will be seen through rose-colored glasses.
Celebrate the ability to talk about the “boring” mundane parts of your everyday life. Everyday parts of your day are just normal for everyone. Celebrate your ability to share this with your partner and make it a cohesive part of everyday life. During these times, make sure to support your partner with their decisions or when they are stressed or hurt. Make sure you are available for her when things in her life are going haywire without you. Not only does it make them feel loved and connected knowing that you are available for them, but it also deepens their relationship, and isn’t that what you’re looking for?
Thanks to Jef Vereckt | #Stay #Connected #Long #Distance #Relationship
