How to Survive Long Distance

I used to think that long distance was stupid. I never understood why you’d want to try to make something work with someone when you never could see them anyway. I used to try to convince my friends that it was a bad idea to be with someone who didn’t live close by, until it happened to me.

I try to keep this blog separate from certain aspects of my personal life, but honestly, it’s not working too well. As I sat down to write today, I had the hardest time focusing due to something that has been happening in my life. It may seem stupid, or trivial in the grand scheme of things, but I figured that by sharing, I might be able to help a few of you that are reading who are also in my shoes.

You see, for the past few months, I have been doing my relationship long distance. I met my boyfriend at school in NC, and wasn’t looking for a relationship at the time. In fact, I specifically told him that I was going to have a “guy-free year” when we first met.( typical) That “guy-free year” lasted for about 2 days, and soon after, we were inseparable. He was a senior, I was a sophomore, I didn’t care. He lived in NC, i lived in MA, I still didn’t care. I enjoyed the time we had together, and avoided thinking about the logistics.  I have always lived by the motto “if it’s meant to be, it will happen”, so I knew if this was in God’s plan for me, it would work itself out.

Before I knew it , my boyfriend was graduated, and it was time to part ways for the summer. I didn’t see him for three months, and then, just when we got to see each other, we got some big news. He was called for training for 5 months, and of those 5 months, the first month he’d be phoneless. Again, in the grand scheme of things, people have things way worse, but this didn’t make it any easier on my emotions.

As the problem solver that I am, I went to Google to read about people who have had  similar experiences. Reading people’s stories helped, but a lot of the tips that people shared to battle long distance didn’t really work for my specific situation. I can’t watch a TV show over facetime with him, I don’t know the exact date that I’m going to see him next, and I can’t keep him updated on every detail of my life like I used to be able to… so I thought.  In the next few paragraphs, I am going to talk about some of the ways I am planning on conquering  my sadness for the next month while I have no communication with my boyfriend.

The number one thing that I plan on doing over the next few weeks is keeping myself busy! This may seem like an obvious one, but when I’m sad, sometimes, all i want to do is sulk and feel bad for myself. By getting up, and keeping my day jam- packed, I won’t have extra time to be actively thinking about my situation. This year, I moved into my sorority house and it has been such a blessing. I am constantly surrounded by people who not only keep me busy, but also keep me laughing. I also picked up a job this year, and it has been one of the best things for me. Again, instead of crawling into bed for a nap after class, I have a busier schedule where there is no longer the option to sit and feel bad for myself.

As a blogger, I obviously enjoy writing quite a bit. I am a HUGE texter normally, and update my poor boyfriend on every single part of my day. “ Getting lunch now.” “It’s delicious” “I’m cold.”: these are just some of the texts I send to him on the daily. ( I don’t know how he puts up with me either.) My solution to curbing my craving to excessively update him is keeping a journal. I haven’t decided if I’m actually going to give this to him or not when this month is over, but it is nice to keep a log of what is happening on a daily basis, so that I know exactly where to start off when I see him again. This may seem super cheesy, but this is by far my favorite tip that I have.

Lastly, I am going to start going to the gym again, and try taking workout classes that are offered by my school. Working out is honestly the only way to get myself out of a funk. I am my own worst enemy, but when I am working out, all negative thoughts seem to esape my head. If you already work out, and you’re looking for a third tip, my advice to you would be to pick up a new hobby or habit. Along with working out, I have been making it  a priority to put a little more effort into my appearance before I leave the house, and ensuring that my bed is made when I leave for class in the morning. These new habits make me feel like I have my life together, even though that is not always true.

As mentioned twice in this blog post, I understand that this is not the biggest deal in the world. I understand that people have it way worse than I do, but it doesn’t mean that that makes all of this easy. If you are going through a similar situation, or have in the past, please leave a comment down below or send me an email under my contact section. I would love to hear your tips on this topic. As always, thank you for supporting My Loquacity, it truly means the world to me.