I have friends who are in long distance relationships and I respect them so much. The guy is in the US while the lady is in Africa. And they have been together for 5 years now. Well, they do see each other but that only happens after a whole year in the December holidays. Personally I have also been in a long distance relationship but mine was not continents apart. We also did not have to wait a whole year to see each other.
While it is true that relationships have their own bouts of stress, long distance relationships are even worse. There is communication breakdown, lack of mistrust, then there is that class of friends who tell you that it cannot work, that maybe your partner is cheating on you. And then there are times when you lack the money to keep the conversations. Say for example that your phone does not have enough airtime to call your significant other. Or maybe, you are out of Internet and cannot therefore skype them. Yes, it feels so bad.
So, how do you mitigate this kind of stress and keep the relationship going?
Send your loved ones some awesome open when letters
Open when letters are designed to be read when the situation is right and dictates that you read the letter. You can for example send an open when you miss me letter that the recipient will read when they so much miss you. An open when stressed letter would be read when they are feeling distressed and it kind of consoles them knowing that someone somewhere cares for them and encourages them to face what they are going through. Open when letters keep the relationship strong and going.
Be open and speak out
If something is stressing you out, maybe your partner is taking to long to answer a missed call, or to text back, tell them that they are not making you feel okay. Tell them that you are feeling bad about that. Vent and complain because if you bottle up the emotions, they are going to explode in a bad way.
Have scheduled times to speak to each other
There are those people who would like to keep on talking and talking but I think it is only fair that you have scheduled times and only call at other times for emergencies or surprises. The random calls should not be a rule. Just an exception because you might be distracting the other partner from work or activities that they were immersed in.
Resilience and patience
All relationships are based on patience and resilience. Long distance relationships demand more of this and you therefore need to exercise them.