Can a Long-Distance Relationship Last?

1.03.2012 | By: K. Z.

You have moved to another town, but you left your partner behind. Is it possible to make a long-distance relationship work or not?

Long-distance relationship requires a lot of patience from both partners. (PhotoXpress)

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Sometimes we have no other option but to move far away from home, for example because of studying or working in another town. As we leave our partner behind we decide to take care of our long-distance relationship. But is it possible to make a long-distance relationship work? Surely you remember the old saying: »Far from the eyes, far from the heart«?

Time you spend apart

Get used to the new environment

Moving to a new place can bring a lot of problems with it. You probably don't know anybody and therefore you feel quite lonely. Your partner is not there to help you go through the most difficult phase of adaptation. It is very important, especially if you want your long-distance relationship to work, that you settle in the new environment and start functioning as normally as you can.

Find friends

Don't stay in your apartment all the time, because you will feel even lonelier! Start meeting new people, but don't expect that you will get 5 new best friends immediately. It is important that you meet at least one or two persons so you can go to the movies together or have a coffee with. This way it will be easier for you to overcome the difficult moments away from your partner, which will also make your long-distance relationship more stable.

Talk about your feelings

You will probably soon experience problems in your long-distance relationship but it is better not to talk about it over the phone or email, because you can put the phone down very quickly while arguing. Thus you will not solve the problem but it will become only deeper. Instead, you should turn to your old and new friends for advice or even to your family, and wait to talk to your partner eye to eye.

Time you spend together

Love can become even stronger

If you had a quality relationship before and you spend every spare moment together, you are now facing certain difficulties and obstacles. But don't despair right at the beginning because a long-distance relationship can even deepen the affection you feel for each other. You will need to trust each other more because you won't be able to control each other all the time. And don't forget to tell each other every time you are together how much you've missed each other!

Use your time together

How often you get to see each other of course depends on how far away have you moved. No matter how often or how rare that is, you should make sure that your moments together will be pleasant and interesting. Long-distance relationship can turn sour really quickly, if you spend a lot of time apart and the moments together are spend in front of the TV. Plan your dates in advance, but still keep a bit of spontaneity.

Don't make long-term plans

Of course you can arrange to meet a week or two in advance, but you should never make plans for several months, because you never know what might happen. If you arrange things for a month in advance, the disappointment will be so much bigger if one of you has to suddenly cancel the meeting.

What if your long-distance relationship doesn't work out?

When something goes wrong...

Maybe the distance between you made you realize that the relationship is not as good as you though it was, maybe you met somebody else or you simply stopped missing the person you once felt closest to. Whatever happened, you should know that long-distance relationships don't always work. So what do to in this case?

Be honest

Long-distance relationship enables you to avoid unpleasant moments of truth and delay telling what you really feel. But that's not fair to your partner who is at the other end of the state or even further, waiting for your phone call or a visit. That's why you should bite the sour apple and be honest about your feelings. There's no point in persisting in a relationship that has no future, even though a long-distance relationship may sound very romantic ...