Despite what people say, long-distance relationships can work. With all the technology that’s available with web-cams, e-mails and cell phones, you can see someone without even “seeing” him or her.
I think that you have to definitely take into account the distance between the two people. For example, say someone lives in California, and the significant other lives in Minnesota. This may be harder to deal with than for two dating persons in Bakersfield and in Los Angeles.
Nevertheless, not being with someone is still not being with someone. Let’s say the situation is the guy who plays a sport and decides to go to a different college because there is a better opportunity for him at this particular school that happened to be very far away from California. So, the two individuals decide to stay together and try to make the relationship work.
That’s the scenario; this relationship could totally work, couldn’t it?
The answer is yes!
Oh, it’s going to be hard work, really hard work, more work than a regular relationship requires. The two individuals will not see each other for a long time, and there has to be a certain set of rules laid out. How many times will the two talk if there’s a certain time of day the two will talk? Is the relationship open? Can the two see other people? How serious are the two together? There has to be a certain level of trust that surpasses a regular relationship.
In a long-distance relationship, you can’t just drive over to the person’s apartment or house and see if they are being faithful or not; you just have to trust them. Long-distance relationships take a certain amount of discipline that a regular relationship doesn’t necessarily have to deal with.
Both people have to want it and want it bad. The relationship, I mean. If one person is giving his or her all and the other person is not, then the relationship will not last. The two people have to put in 100 percent effort.
Also, the two have to make arrangements to see each other physically at some point in their relationship. There is a difference if the two are only a few hours away vs. a few days away, so that also has to be taken into consideration. Maybe they could both plan an activities calendar of some sort.
I do have to admit that the long-distance relationship may last longer if the two people have been together for a certain period of time, while a newer relationship may fizzle out simply because the people haven’t gotten to know each other well enough on a non-physical level.
Having a long-distance relationship also helps to keep the fire and excitement alive that can easily be lost in a regular relationship. Every time you see the person, it’s new, exciting and fresh. You never get bored of the person, and there’s always a thrill when you see him or her. It’s like the first time all over again.
Basically, it comes down to work and discipline, which is good for any regular relationship anyway. When the two people finally come back together, they’ll be able to understand and know things about the person that they may not have found out if they weren’t in a long-distance relationship.
So, I think a long-distance relationship can definitely work if the two people want the relationship badly enough, and the two people are totally and completely serious.