Hey all! Today I’m covering an interesting topic…long-distance relationships. Are they worth having? Should you have them? How can you keep them healthy and not get left on read for six months? And how the heck do you keep them?!

And before you assume I’m talking about romantic relationships, I’m actually talking about platonic relationships.

Now, I have a lot of long-distance friendships. A handful of friends in Washington, some around North Carolina, my bestie in Massachusetts, some in Iowa, a couple in Virginia, as well as others around the U.S.

Personally, I really value long-distance relationships for one big reason: you learn to love and enjoy that person for their personality, their time, and their words.

If you are in a long-distance relationship, it requires more effort. You have to remember to text and call, you can’t just hang out whenever you want, and you don’t see each other in person—and it’s easier to make memories in person.

And so these friendships—although they require more effort—make the relationship really strong. You have to be mindful that your words will impact them a lot and when you text or call them, it’s going to tell them that you are thinking of them. So really, every message counts.

I bet I’m making this sound really dramatic—but if you’ve experienced it for yourself, then I’m sure you will agree with me!

Now, people do actually date long-distance which I think is pretty cool—it’s hard, yes, but like I said: you learn to love that person not for their physicality but for their personality.

But long-distance relationships are hard. You forget to call them, you leave them on read for a couple days, they leave you on read for a couple days, you start to get lazy with checking in.

Sometimes it becomes a chore, having to text that person. But let me tell you: if you make an effort—both of you—to keep this friendship healthy, it will stay healthy.

Pray about it. Talk to each other about it. Talk to another friend about it. Talk to an adult about it.

I don’t want my long-distance relationships to be a chore—and right now, none of them are! I’m really really happy with how all of my long-distance relationships are right now. But sometimes I get lazy: ‘Eh, I’ll text him tomorrow.’ ‘Ugh, I forgot to call her…she probably forgot too. It’s fine.’

But I know that if someone did that to me—and trust me, people have—I would be really hurt. And I understand that sometimes it’s an accident; we have our own lives! We can’t always text or call. But I want to be purposeful with my relationships, both long-distance and not.

So today I have something for you to do: message a friend or a family member who’s far away (or anybody else) and ask how they’re doing. See if they want to call and chat or just text them! It doesn’t have to be someone you haven’t talked to in a while, it could be someone you texted yesterday. But I encourage your to reach out and check in on someone! You never know—it might make their day. They might really need it!

Have a great day! And let me know your opinions on long-distance relationships (romantic or platonic): what are your thoughts or advice?
~Willow

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