The new year has just begun and so first and foremost we want to wish everybody a very happy New Year! From both of us we hope that everyone will have a wonderful, healthy and prosperous year ahead of them! Around this time is also a good moment to look back and reflect on the year that just passed in order to create the proper LDR: Long Distance Resolution.
For some of us it has been a more turbulent year than for others. Some of the things we talk about with our followers makes us want to pack up our bags and help them immediately. As for us personally, we are rather glad the year is over. Settling in a foreign country usually brings its struggles and we are no different. On top of that we lost a family member right around Christmas, so our holidays were overshadowed with the feeling of grief. However, despite everything that happened we can still look back and reflect on it with a sense of content, as we did learn a lot from it.
That feeling
We are surely not the only ones that have to deal with life, especially if you are in a long distance relationship. A year may seem like a decade if you can't be with the one you so desperately want to be close to. Around the holidays you wish they could celebrate the day with you and fortunately we have the internet, but it is still not the same. We always thought that the prolonged sense of absence stained the year completely, leaving a bitter taste that settles everywhere. However, when we started taking a closer look we could find moments or events that acted as a sweetener to this bitter dish and eventually turned it around into a nice strawberry dessert. It is just a matter of how you look at it.
The distance
We could be beaten down by the distance, thinking it'll kill us before it resolves, or we could be grateful for the fact that we have somebody, maybe even on the other side of the world, who is willing to wait it out together with me until we find a way to be together. We could be beaten down by fights we had over Skype, or we could be happy we made up after and thereby improving the way we communicate with each other under difficult circumstances. Or we could be beaten down by a last minute trip cancellation, even though they immediately showed you that they were looking for the next possibility to visit me. It is a matter of how you look at it that makes the difference between a bitter or a sweet taste.
On top of that there are of course the fun and loving things to look back at as well. Surprise visits from your SO, lovely letters and pictures are all examples that will sweeten up the dessert and leave you feeling happy about it.
A new prospective
So what does that mean looking back at our year again? Instead of being burned out, we feel like we made ourselves more capable in handling the situation that we were given. Never before were we as prepared as we are now to do what is necessary to realise our dream of living together after successfully completing our LDR. And our family loss? She was a very loving grandmother of old age who was in a considerable amount of pain, and so we are content that she is finally at peace and with her husband, even though she will be missed. So even though our year was difficult, it has given us the strength to start the new year on a high note.
Our New Years resolution
And that is exactly what our resolutions are going to be. Being grateful for the good things that happened and learn to see that certain experiences bring value to the table, even difficult ones. Therefore your New Years Long Distance Resolution should not be to sit and mope around and let the distance get to you, but instead to keep the flame going because you are grateful that you are still together and willing to do this! Celebrate another year closer to the moment where you will actually be together, until some point where you will actually be celebrating New Years Eve together in your future house (with possible dog of course), thinking back to the previous years and realising how much you two gained as a couple by making it through the LDR.
From us two to the all of you once again: a very happy New Year and make this a wonderful and memberable year.
With love,
