Being in a long distance for a whole year sure gives you a lot of time to learn more about your significant other in ways that maybe in a short distance relationship someone could take for granted.
Having that physical barrier certainly gives you the opportunity to cherish the little things you and your significant other share together.
From these 365 days, the following are things that my Aussie and I have learnt and keep learning everyday:
1. We learned to communicate better:
Almost everyone is submerged on the world of smart-phones, social media, and the internet, we know how to hold a conversation through text and phone call, but this is not exactly what I’m talking about.
Besides of simply holding a couple of pointless conversations here and there, for the time we’ve been together, we’ve learned how to communicate our emotions, problems, worries and just everything that we wouldn’t easily share with everybody.
Since we are fully aware that we don’t live 5 to 10 minutes away from each other, we know that communicating with each other often or on an everyday basis is vital for our relationship to continue blossoming.
2. We’ve worked and learned to manage our time:
Due to different time-zones (in our case there’s a 17hr difference, at the moment) we’ve discovered that it is not about working our schedule around the relationship, but about organizing our daily activities so that there can be time available for each other.
I really don’t think that being in an ldr has “taken the place” or attention of other things I used to do before, at all. I don’t think that is the case since I believe we, each, are able to function the same.
3. We learned to appreciate the little things:
This is definitely one of the most rewarding things that at least I have learned throughout the relationship. The little things do not mean just material things we’ve sent each other through a care package but those things we do for each other.
Some of the things that I greatly value him doing are: the effort that he puts in the relationship, the kind and comforting words when I’ve had a bad day, listening to my stories or basically everything I talk to him about. Yet, I believe my favorite is seeing and feeling that we are supportive of each other, which is something simply amazing.
4. I learned to be more understanding:
Although for me this can be hard at times, I admit I have become better at it. I’ve simply grown to believe that understanding comes hand in hand with trust and communication. As well as communication and trust, understanding is something we try, specially I, try my best to work on it.
Due to past experiences, this was quite hard for me, but even before we started our relationship, it became something that I started improving on. Understanding how our present reality is and the “why’s” things are not always as I’d like them to be was a bit hard but having him by my side, even if it is through a mobile device, has helped me ease into the coping of it.
5. He learned to be creative:
Yes, one of my favorites! If for someone who may not like to think outside the box, like maybe him, creativity is something he has learned to let loose little by little. Although it may be common to fall into the exact same routine, throughout the months we’ve both exercised this and have learned to be a bit more creative.
As time has passed our list of things to do while on a date night, or during a call, has been growing and growing. We’ve both ventured on trying new things to spice things up, and this doesn’t mean we have nothing to talk about or that the conversations have turned dull, but simply a find a way to add a thrill to the time we spend together.
There are a handful of activities we do to substitute the physical absence, and have learned that while we are having a good time, we are still learning about each other.
6. We’ve learned to be patient:
To many this could be an obvious one. If you nodded in agreement, I’m with you. Patience tends to be a really important trait a person learns and has to have when being in an ldr. Since the time we first encountered each other, we’ve learned to be more patient.
We, or he, waited for the next day to reach me on skype after the first time we ever talked. We waited for the right time to confess what we felt for each other. We were patient enough to have our first call/video call after hundreds of conversations through text over a couple of months. We waited to finally become an official couple, and we continue being patient and keep waiting for the day we can finally be in the same room and just be together.
Those in an ldr learn to excel at being patient more than anything because we do it every single day we are in the relationship.
7. We’ve learned to be us:
Yes! For the many months we’ve been in this ldr, we’ve learned to embrace being us. I know this sounds “basic”, but in no way is learning to be simply us, “plain basic”. I have learned to be more accepting of who I am as a whole, flaws, virtues, qualities, etc,.
He has learned to open up and I’ve discovered the amazing human being that he is. Learning to be real to yourself and others by opening up to someone else feels amazing but can be quite scary, I admit. Yet, I am really glad we both have learned this through our ldr.
What are some of the things you’ve learned through your long distance relationship? Maybe you agree, or differ in opinion, leave a comment below. I’d love to hear what you have to say.
