LDR Tips
Today’s globally mobile and interconnected society facilitates interactions with individuals from all walks of life. There are more ways to find love, even if it means moving hundreds of miles away from home. Now more than ever, it seems, long-distance relationships may be maintained with the help of modern technologies like texting and video conferencing.
We no longer live in a time when long-distance phone calls are a luxury that must be rationed. No longer do long-distance lovers have to wait for news that is, at most, four days old, thanks to the postal service. We no longer have to wait for our loved ones to read their e-mail when they return home from work. We can’t seem to tear ourselves away from social media, even while going to the store, working, playing, or watching a movie with friends. Anyone in a long-distance relationship will tell you that technology does not solve all the problems that arise from being apart.
However, despite the absence of physical contact, many long-distance relationships can appear emotionally taxing. What difficulties do long-distance relationships have those regular ones do not? In an LDR, how can partners make it work? In this article, we’ll attempt to answer some of those baffling questions.
Risks of LDR
Online dating services have become more popular among single Filipinos as the effects of globalization spread throughout the country. Due to the ease with which Filipinas can now communicate with their AFAMs, a cultural divide between the two groups is no longer felt. One cannot completely eliminate the possibility of infidelity in a long-distance relationship with a Filipina. Internet relationships are becoming more difficult to verify, making them vulnerable to attack by even the wariest and most critical users. For an LDR to last, trust on both sides is necessary. This is particularly crucial in long-distance relationships because one spouse may worry about the other becoming involved with someone else. Paranoia, anger, and other negative emotions may develop from an inability to trust others.
It’s common knowledge that many Filipinas engage in many simultaneous long-distance relationships with males for economic reasons. Because of the country’s harsh economic climate, some Filipina women have turned to illegal means of supporting themselves and their families. When there are few other employment opportunities, romance scams are often the only way to meet ends. The economic downturn caused by the pandemic has led to a rise in romantic fraud.
Can LDR Truly Work?
The common belief is that long-distance relationships can never succeed. Some of your closest friends and family members may advise you against it on the grounds that you’ll just end up sad if you put too much confidence in the relationship. Due to the greater separation, many things just cannot be done. Things may get difficult, and you may experience periods of loneliness and sadness. While this may be true, the additional distance enhances the appreciation of even the most basic pleasures. Simple things like holding hands, sharing a meal, touching, feeling, walking, and smelling each other’s hair may be more significant in a long-distance relationship.
Every partner in a long-distance relationship has felt the weight of financial difficulty at some point. Couples on LDRs need to include travel expenses in their budget just as they would the cost of a mortgage, groceries, or clothes. This is especially true for long-distance trips that need many gas stops or expensive air travel. The negotiating of boundaries is the more complex part. It’s common for people in long-distance relationships to feel resentful against their partners’ local acquaintances, claiming that their significant others spend “too much time” with them. When you’re apart, there’s always the chance that your significant other may start dating or fall in love with someone else. Problems like this may be avoided if individuals set clear limits, are honest, and realize that they require in-person social contact.
LDR Tips
Building Trust in LDR
5 Important LDR Tips
1. Spend some quality time learning about one another.
The best way to get to know someone is to ask them questions about themselves, such as their interests, dislikes, favorite foods, desired vacation destinations, and pet peeves. If you listen carefully to what he or she has to say, they will feel more comfortable sharing more personal details with you.
2. Get your expectations in check by establishing clear boundaries.
Both of you need to be on the same page about your expectations for the other during this time apart. Establish certain norms so that no one will do something that will catch the other off guard. Do the two of you hang out exclusively with each other? Can one of you go out on dates with someone else? Where do you stand on the subject of commitment? Open communication is the best way to handle these kinds of issues.
3. Stay away from anything that may be considered “precarious.”
If you know your partner would be upset if you spend the night out clubbing or drinking with your pals, you have two options: don’t do it, or tell them ahead of time to put their mind at rest. Do not ignore this behavior since it will make your partner more suspicious and anxious, not to mention extremely unhappy because they will feel helpless. If you’re not careful, you can find yourself falling for the office flirt or reconnecting with an old flame from high school. The threats of a scenario must be assessed beforehand. Pay attention to your emotions, but don’t let them dictate your actions. Don’t forget to give your rational mind some attention.
4. Set a target and work toward it.
Do you think it’s going to be a while before we see each other again? As in, “what about the future?” An eternal long-distance relationship is impossible. We should all learn to calm down at some point. That being said, come up with a strategy together. Make a chart with start and finish dates and the projected time spent away and together. Having the same expectations and working for the same ends is crucial. This way, you may still be inspired to work together toward a future that includes one another, even if you don’t share the same place or time zone. A relationship, like everything else, requires effort and drive to maintain.
5. Maintain frequent, expressive dialogue, but not excessively.
Make it a habit to say “good morning” and “good night” to each other daily. In addition, it’s important to keep your spouse up to speed on what’s occurring in your life, no matter how little or inconsequential it may appear. Occasionally sharing material like photographs, audio clips, and short videos may raise the game. This effort demonstrates that you are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty to make the other person feel valued and appreciated.
Well, at the end of the day, long-distance relationships are much like regular dating, just a little bit more complicated. There is an inextricable web of interconnection whereby communication, trust, and adaptability play crucial roles. Dating and maintaining a relationship is difficult in and of itself, but imagine the difficulty of maintaining a long-distance relationship.
Lacking a more apt expression, it sucks to be unable to spend every day with the person you love. But because exchanging texts all day is fantastic, phone conversations are always something to look forward to in this modern world, flying to see each other for the first time is thrilling (and every subsequent flight is, too), and you feel like you’ve just fallen in love all over again when you eventually meet. My belief in the adage “absence makes the heart grow fonder” is unwavering. It’s a great test of your ability to love someone so much, although you don’t get to see them very often, your level of trustworthiness, and your enjoyment of long phone conversations. The bottom line is that LDRs might be tough to steer through, but they are not impossible.
