All relationships come with their trials and tribulations. All take hard work and dedication, give and take from both sides in order to be successful. Every relationship has its unique quirks and intricacies, circumstances and compromises. Whether you are together every day or live in different cities, or even different countries, relationships are always worth it.
With the world getting smaller each year and means of staying in touch all day, every day at our fingertips, long-distance relationships are becoming more and more possible to maintain. And, in many cases work better and are more convenient for both parties. Here are five signs that your long-distance relationship is working.
- You Never Feel Like You Are Being Kept In The Dark
All successful relationships are based on honesty and trust. This doesn’t mean that you have to let your significant other know exactly where you are and what you are doing at every moment of the day.
It does mean that you want to share as much information about your daily life with them as possible. You want to be open and honest with them, and most importantly you feel that you are getting the same in return.
If you never feel like you are being excluded from your partner’s day-to-day life, then you can be sure that you have a good solid base of trust and honesty. It’s in the simple things like a text in the morning saying “Just got to the gym and the lines for the treadmills are ridiculous!”, to a Facetime chat during his/her lunch break as a way of having lunch together.
It’s not about living in each other’s pockets, but more about sharing as much as possible during the day through the means that technology provides us.
- Coming Together is Part of the Long-Term Goal
Katherine Darcy from BestEssays says that “Every long-term relationship must have an end-goal in sight; a planned time when the two parties will come together and begin their lives as a unit.”
If your daily conversations include talks of an end-goal and a planned time when the two of you will begin living together and building a life in the same city and same household, then you are on the right path.
A long-term relationship cannot simply float along aimlessly. You need to have more to look forward to than just your nightly Facetime chats or daily text messages. You need to be planning ahead, planning a future.
If your partner is in this with you and is also making plans for the two of you to one day become a unit, then you can rest assured that everything is working out and moving in the right direction.
- You Still Appreciate Your Time Apart
Every healthy relationship needs to allow for alone time, for “me-time,” and even though you don’t get to physically see each other every day, you are still keeping in contact. If you find yourself enjoying the time you have on your own, doing your “me-things” so that you have some news to share when you do speak to your partner, you know you are doing well. You know that you are comfortable with the idea that you are not together all the time.
When you find this comfort and balance in your time apart, then you know that you will be able to do the same when you are together and physically sharing each other’s company.
This, of course, links back to sign number 1; if you still feel included in each other’s lives while doing your own thing, then you know you are on to something solid.
- There’s No Pressure
When you do spend time together, physically in each other’s company and the conversation flows easily, that’s a good sign. If you can happily spend the only Sunday afternoon you have together lying on the couch reading a book, without feeling a desperate need to consistently entertain one another or go out and partake in activities; that too is a good sign.
Time together should never feel pressurized. Silences are not a bad thing, and if you can spend time in each other’s company and still feel completely relaxed while doing so, there is a very good chance that when you do come together, you will be able to find a working balance.
This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t plan exciting activities for when your partner comes to visit. Taking them to your favorite restaurant or out to see a show is great. Going for walks to your favorite coffee shop and showing them around where you do your shopping and live your daily life is a great idea. But you should never feel pressurized to plan big outings and over-the-top events just because your love is in town.
- You Feel Part of The Family
You have been seeing each other from long-distance for a few months already and the last time you were visiting her/him you were introduced to the family. You now have been given an opportunity to build relationships with your partner’s immediate family and so become part of that family.
This shows that your partner is not only serious about his/her commitment to you but also about the commitment you have both made towards your end goal of being together.
This also supports sign number 1; you are being included in all aspects of your partner’s life, and as a result, you never feel like you are on the outside, even though you live in a different city.
Long-Distance Relationships Are Worth It
If you can see all these signs clearly, in some way, within your long-distance relationship then you know it is worth it. You know that you are on to something great. Evidence of these signs will prove that you should keep working at it, that you should keep that end goal in sight and that it will be worth the wait.
Warren is a marketing enthusiast and a blogger at BestEssays.com, who loves music. If he doesn’t have a guitar in his hands, he’s probably embracing new technologies and marketing techniques online! You can meet him on Twitter and Facebook.