Long distance relationships have a reputation for being unreasonably hard and not working out.  According to a 2014 study by Statistic Brain, 40 percent of long distance relationships end in a breakup. 70 percent of those breakups occur when couples are unable to navigate unexpected and unplanned changes in their relationship.

While a 40% breakup rate might seem like a really bad success/failure ratio, it can’t be all THAT bad since 14 million couples in the United States consider themselves to be in a long distance relationship. That’s a lot of people risking it all for love.

And did you know that of the 2 million marriages that took place in 2014, 10 percent of those marriages started off as a long distance relationship? That means for that calendar year about 200 thousand long distance couples in the U.S. alone successfully closed the distance! I don’t know about you, but those odds don’t sound so bad.

So while LDRs have a bad rep, there’s no doubt that they CAN be successful if you know how to successfully navigate through the ups and downs of the relationship. The proof is in the numbers! So if the man or woman of your dreams lives in another state, province, country or continent, be sure to check out these steps to navigate a long distance relationship together:

How to navigate an LDR