Meet In The Middle

Someone once said, ~Long distance relationships can be stormy…But when an argument begins, sometimes it helps to remember that you and your partner are on the same side. Good relationships are built on talking, listening, and learning to solve problems together. Fight the distance - not each other.~ Without a doubt, there are most definitely challenges being in a long distance relationship as two individuals do their best in keeping the lines of communication open with each other. For it’s a challenging situation indeed in maintaining that type of communication where it can be difficult to share your thoughts, feelings, and/or emotions, especially when the both of you are separated by distance. Yet, it’s certainly manageable if both are determined to overcome the odds by putting in time, effort, and work.

As I said before, there are most definitely challenges being in a long distance relationship as two individuals do their best in keeping the lines of communication open with each other. Thinking about it further, one of those challenges is being able to actively listen to each other thus showing not only a mental, but an emotional presence in each other’s life even though they’re physically miles away. Women, more so than men, are truly appreciative of having that supportive presence because it tells them the guy in question is willing to go the distance, so to speak. Essentially, it’s through actively listening, learning, understanding and providing some much needed feedback in return that’s will possibly be beneficial if unfortunate problems arise like dealing with any unresolved conflicts or insecurities.

If you think about it, when problematic conflicts or insecurities surface in a long distance relationship the following two choices can be made: 1.) open up on what’s been weighing heavily mentally and emotionally. OR 2.) Not say anything at all. Unfortunately, choosing to not say anything at all leads to the mental/emotional struggle that can end up boiling over to the point where the guy/girl explodes by completely lashing out and the possibility of a break up occurs, which shows a lack of maturity on their part. Why? What it primarily comes down to is the failire of not being able to properly handle issues of frustration, anger, worry, fear, jealousy, doubt, etc. that festered for quite some time that remaining silent was chosen rather than opening up to talk things out.

Let me ask this question to those who are in or have been in a long distance relationship, was there any agreement or compromise involving visiting one another? Here’s another question, how did that compromise/agreement work out? Oftentimes, when it comes to a mutually agreed upon two sided compromise that was effortlessly made in the beginning, it can suddenly turn one sided because of unrelenting stubbornness in not wanting to make any effort whatsoever on his/her side, which is sadly disappointing. I think it’s safe to say there are individuals out there who regretted giving in to the demands of someone they believed was closing the distance in becoming a potentially future best friend only to end up actually creating even more distance than ever before.

In retrospect, distance will always be one of the most challenging aspects of a relationship that will be considered a litmus test on whether or not two people are able to effectively communicate with each other when experiencing unfortunate stormy conflicts. It’s those aforementioned stormy conflicts in which there’s a tendency to forget what both individuals are fighting for and that is the hope of eventually living one life together instead of two lives separately. Ultimately, it means having the utmost patience knowing the sacrifices being made will be totally well worth it. In the end, it’s a constant work in progress being in a long distance relationship as two people have to be able to meet in the middle in every sense of the word and hopefully beat the odds to experience the success of true happiness together.