Tips on Long-Distance
Relationships
For people in long-distance
relationships, it often does not make much of a difference
if the partners live a few hours, or a few days’ distance,
away from each other. Maintaining and supporting a loving,
trusting relationship, compounded with the fact that the partners
do not spend their daily lives together, can be overwhelming
at times, and wrought with challenges and setbacks. Yet long-distance
relationships can still facilitate valuable opportunities
for partners to experience growth, maturity and bonding together.
Here are a few tips for making your relationship special and
meaningful through the tough separation periods:
1. Practice being respectful,
honest and trusting with your partner and with yourself. Since
you aren’t interacting and experiencing in each other’s
daily lives on a regular basis, you may be thinking thoughts
that aren’t always clearly communicated or directly
put out in the open for discussion and reflection. As in any
relationship but especially for long-distance, listening in
a caring manner and honesty is a crucial component for facilitating
trust with your partner. The more you voluntarily offer information
and communicate empathy and what you’re feeling and
reflecting about the relationship, the more your partner will
feel secure and prompted to open up as well.
2. Frequent communication
is an important element of long-distance relationships. Every
relationship is different, but the advantage of talking or
checking in with your partner at least once each day can provide
a stabilizing force to a relationship that often may be unpredictable
due to different schedules, responsibilities, or time-zones.
Even if only for a few minutes, a simple phone call enables
you hear your partner’s voice and share details or updates
about each other’s lives. Also, checking in with each
other allows you to always have something special to look
forward to in the course of your day, and to plan and discuss
your next reunion!
3. Bonding and nurturing
emotional intimacy questions means being there for each other:
“What was the most exciting/annoying part of your day?”
“Tell me a story/memory about when you were (a certain
age).” “Do you have any concerns or worries about
our relationship?” “How are you feeling about
us now?”
4. Making use of different
technology is one of the bonus features of long-distance relationships.
Couples are not limited to phone calls (though cell phones
and “free night and weekends” plans do make talking
on the phone for hours much cheaper and more convenient).
To add an element of surprise and spice to your long-distance
relationship, make the effort to send your partner a short
email or text message expressing your feelings or just a sweet
and simple “I love you”. The Internet also provides
dozens of free “e-greeting cards” with which you
can communicate almost any emotion to your partner in a cute
animated and musical card or with old-fashioned phrases. Writing
letters via “snail-mail” can be romantic and also
a keepsake memento for those times you’re both feeling
lonely or missing each other, or a surprise for a special
occasion.
5. In a long-distance relationship,
it’s often easy to misinterpret, misunderstand, or discount
your partner’s feelings, words or actions on account
of the difficulty of communication, clarity of intent or effort
as contrasted with that of regular dating relationships. It’s
essential to maintain a sense of humor with your partner,
sharing in blunders of miscommunication and being able to
laugh at your situation together. Knowing, understanding and
accepting your partner is a long-term process and healthy
relationships require respect for differences and awareness
of each other’s strengths and weaknesses and positive
and negative qualities.
6. Maintaining good personal
boundaries and limits around other friendships and talking
about realistic expectations creates greater comfort and a
sense of security and doesn’t lead to mixed messages
or signals. Keep in mind to end your conversations with appreciations,
hopes and desires for the present and near future! This helps
strengthen your coping abilities with the situation.
| Authors Details: Long Distance Relationships
- Lucy S. Raizman Web
Site |
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