Relationships can be hard to maintain. However, imagine living hundreds, or even thousands of miles away from your loved one in the middle of a global pandemic that has seen most of the world shut down and inaccessible for visits. Long-distance relationships come with their challenges, and sadly, some have suffered throughout the past 15 months of the global shutdown.
For those who are on the edge, here’s how to keep the magic alive throughout some of the most challenging times in a relationship.
Keep Communicating
The key to making a relationship thrive is communication and communication alone. It doesn’t matter whether you live with your partner or are in a long-distance relationship, communication always matters. However, for the long-distance couple, communication can be a challenging concept- especially when timezones mean that one person could spend a good chunk of the other person’s day asleep. Additionally, the things that can be said with a hug and a kiss in person need to be communicated in different ways while the couples are living apart. Couples over the world are experiencing the need to communicate with their loved ones in different ways, due to the ongoing pandemic. Thanks to the use of modern technology, a wide range of apps, websites, and networks allow people to stay in contact with each other easier than ever before.
While apart, it is even more important to say things as they are- there’s no room to be cryptic when body language cannot be read or comfort given with a gentle touch. It may mean that some of the more challenging conversations can hurt over time but having them and not avoiding them will improve your communication greatly.
Work through the frustrations
Couples fight. That is natural, but it is especially natural with the uncertainty that is going on around the world right now. However, if you want to maintain a healthy long-distance relationship, then you should still try to live by the golden rule of not going to bed with unresolved conflict. Feelings of loneliness and being unheard cause tensions in most relationships so it is important to be open and honest with your partner when loneliness hits. Talk to your partner about how you wish to resolve the issues you may arise. Tensions and frustrations are high all around the world so make sure you give each other the grace and patience as you ride out your frustrations.
Send gifts
There’s no better way to show someone you appreciate and that you’re thinking of them than sending them a little something. It could be doing what you can to send money to India or using a local small business to send a trinket and a reminder of special times. It is also easier than ever to get a nice meal delivered to their home–which is a great way of spending a date night together.
Good things happen to people who are willing to work through challenging times. Stay in communication, resolve your issues and show them how much you care for them every day.