Navigating the World of Long-Distance Relationships

I have been in a long-distance relationship for about a year now, and although it may be seemingly uncontroversial I would have to say that it has been considered quite controversial by many of my friends and family. I am constantly bombarded with questions on the subject, some of them being things that I questioned when I first embarked on this journey, but others things that I would have never even thought about. And so, I decided that maybe I could use this post not only share some of my thoughts and feelings on the subject, but maybe also give a few hints and reasons to continue a long-distance relationship that you may be in or possibly even give you a reason not to fear long-distance relationships in the future.

Honestly, before this year, a long-distance relationship would have seemed unfathomable. I couldn't imagine being in a non-traditional relationship and that's probably how a lot of people feel. The truth is that it IS different. My relationship isn't traditional by any standard or definition, but it IS a functional and I have learned that functionality is what really matters in a relationship. 

Many people ask me how my relationship works. How can you love a person that you almost exclusively see on a computer screen? How do you feel loved when skype is the permanent third wheel on all of your “dates”? I can say that it is hard, especially this day and age and specifically at this time in our lives. It is a billion times harder to maintain a relationship when you are able to see each other just 2 or 3 times a year. You loose the physical element that is so commonly depended upon this day and age. Instead, you are forced to build a relationship on kinship and quite honestly, you have to really like the person that you are seeing to build this sort of relationship. My boyfriend and I are best friends. We know everything about each other, the good and the bad. And in the end, I have to admit that due to our extenuating circumstances, we have built a much stronger relationship than I ever would have imagined. If the chance to go back and choose differently, I think that I would not change a thing in our relationship. Although it is sometimes strenuous, the good always outshines the bad and I wouldn’t give that up for anything in the world. 

The second most common question that I receive is : “How do you think this will end?” People constantly want to know if we plan to continue our relationship and how we plan on doing that. And personally, I have no good answer for that. I would love to tie everything up into a neat little bow and know exactly what my life will entail in the future, but I don’t and that’s perfectly okay! To my family and friends this concept is scary. Those who love me are particularly afraid that I will eventually get my heart broken. But to be completely honest, I would be fine with that because I would know that I had not missed an opportunity. I would know that I was brave enough to be myself and do what was best for me. I would never wake up to regret or fall asleep with tormenting thoughts. I would always know that I put myself out there, whether that was the smartest choice or not. I would be happy just knowing that as cliché as it might sound, I took chance a on love. And just as I have, I hope that you all find someone that makes you happy whether they be near or far and whether that be for today or for a lifetime.