You may have been carrying a long-distance relationship with the person that you are yet to meet. Even when you know the person well and need to live apart for a time, keeping your long-distance relationship is difficult. However, when you have never even met the individual, what can you do to maintain the relationship?
Use the Time to Understand the Individual
Instead of just looking at the surface, look below to find out more about your long-distance partner, because this may reveal ways in which you can make your relationship stronger when you are apart.
When you haven’t met the person, you may wonder how much information you should impart during those early stages. You will be building trust during that time and keeping your long-distance relationship alive may be built upon revealing more about yourselves gradually, as too much too soon may be too overflowing for the other partner.
Both of you need to keep yourself grounded and not become particularly vulnerable by giving away too much information so that one of you becomes a dominant partner in a short period.
When you haven’t yet met, it is better to agree on a pattern and timescale for talking, rather than rushing into serious commitments.
Forcing the Communication
Where one of you prefers to talk 7 days a week and the other just 3 or 4, you must communicate and reach a compromise and explain your circumstances to each other. This provides you with the ability to understand the other person’s circumstances. It may not be that they don’t wish to talk to you every day, but they may be living a busy life and working very hard. Your commitment levels may be at different stages.
Keeping your long-distance relationship alive is focused on the communication during those early stages. Shorter meetings are better if you can remain focused and provide a good level of energy as this will help you plan for future communications that may eventually grow to longer meetings.
Where you are unsure about how you can manage the long-distance relationship, a relationship therapist will be able to help guide you through the various stages so that you can both learn how to ask good questions and listen well.
