In this digital era, many people are trying out long distance relationships. Some tend to meet through love-match platforms while others in social media. Many people including our family and friends would advise us strongly against such relationships as according to them, they are bound to fail. I won’t lie to you that long distance relationships are easy to maintain but there are ways of making them work since even short distance relationships fail quite often. Therefore, if you are in, or planning to get into a long distance relationship, here are ways of making it work.
Communicate regularly
Communication is key to keeping any relationship healthy and alive. Therefore, when in a long distance relationship, you need to communicate more with your loved one. Ensure that you say good morning and goodnight at least every day. This will ensure that the other partner does not feel lonely. However, be also careful not to over-communicate to avoid exhausting yourself. A little bit of teasing and surprise video/call or text message goes a long way.
Be honest with each other
Making a long distance work requires honesty from both sides. It is good to talk about ones feelings such as jealousy, fear and insecurity. Being honest and open with your loved one will ensure that no secrets are kept and both of you are able to deal with any feeling that the other has.
Visit each other
Visits are always the highlights of any long distance relationship. These visits will enable the love birds to see each other and do all the little-yet very meaningful things that couples do such as kissing and holding hands. The visits will ensure that the relationship is kept alive and the couple will be able to share their stories and feelings in each other’s arms.
Get things to do together
It is very important for couples in a long distance relationship to get things that they can do together. These things can be like watching a video from YouTube together, playing an online game together, having a walk in the park ‘together’ while in a video call or singing to each other on Skype. This will make the couple feel closer to each other and less lonely.
Have a goal for the relationship
It is crucial for a couple in a long distance relationship to have a clear goal on how long they are to stay apart and the future of the relationship. This can be done by constantly talking about the future. This will give the other the courage to keep the relationship alive.
By Pauline Kagwiria
