What if we told you a long distance relationship didn’t have to suck? In fact, we think it could set you up for long-term relationships success.
For as long as I can remember, every time somebody spoke of a long distance relationship, it would always come with a negative connotation.
It isn’t often that you get to hear the positive side of a long distance relationship. Believe it or not, there are a lot of positives that can be learned from finding love hundreds of miles from your post code.
My beautiful partner and I have learned some very important values from starting our relationship long distance. These lessons have made a tremendous difference in our relationship, and I think they can help yours, too. Here are three qualities that a long distance relationship helped us master.
1. It taught us how to love one another from a non-physical standpoint.
A lot of relationships nowadays seem to start off physical before you get to know the person. Some would argue that hurts relationships more than it helps them. From my experience, my long distance relationship taught me how to fall in love with my partner without the physical side of things even being in the equation. It helped us learn all about each other before we even had the opportunity to hold each others hand.
It made us get to know each other inside and out. I believe getting to know my partner in the way that I did, without the physical side, has molded our relationship into something remarkable. Falling in love with a person from a non-physical standpoint can make for a better relationship in the long run.
2. It amplified our resilience.
Being in a long distance relationship taught us both how to be more resilient than we ever have been in our lives. The obstacles we have and continue to face are multiplied, and we have bigger hurdles to overcome as time goes on. We had to constantly overcome the doubts from our friends and families. We had to be able to withstand any obstacle that would get in our way; and to do that, we had to learn how to handle and overcome whatever challenges arose. By working through it with your partner and discussing what resilience looks like in your relationship, you will be able to build up the mental toughness to get through anything.
3. It magnified how important communication was in a relationship.
Communication is the most important element in a relationship, but even more so in a long distance relationship. Communicating while in two different countries was something that is tough, but manageable, if you have the right partner. Communicating even the smallest of things was a priority. We had to communicate our thoughts, feelings and doubts daily to stay on the same page.
When someone would put negative thoughts in my partners mind about what we were doing, I had to be the one to let her know I respected their opinions, but that wasn’t our reality. We were going to show them and prove to them we could easily get through the ups and downs of being in a long distance relationship. Long distance relationships have some huge obstacles, but learning how to communicate helped us get through those difficult times.
Today, we are no longer in a long distance relationship. I moved from Dallas, Texas to Cairns, Australia to be with my partner. Learning to love each other from a non-physical standpoint, being resilient and communicating has been the key to our long distance relationship. I know that these three qualities have helped in our relationship, and I know they can help in yours too, whether it is a long distance relationship or not.
This article was originally published with the Good Men Project; republished with the kindest permission.
[image: via shutterstock]
About the Author
Tyler Leslie is living life on his own terms. He packed his life into just one suitcase and moved from the United States to Australia with his girlfriend in early 2015. Tyler’s goal is to inspire others to also follow their hearts and does so by spreading positivity through his writing and videos. He is currently working on the Addicted2Success.com team and is co-authoring his first book about building successful relationships with his girlfriend, Carla Schesser. You can connect with Tyler through his Facebook and Twitter.
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