Most of us do not purposely plan to end up in a long distance relationship. It just sometimes happens - you may meet someone at a wedding, on the internet, while vacationing, at college, or traveling for business. For those who have ever been in a long distance relationship, between juggling schedules to challenges in communication, you can attest to the difficulties in making it work. There is help for a long distance relationship - problems can be overcome with a better understanding of what makes for a successful and fulfilling relationship.

Honoring your commitment can be hard if you and your loved one decide to keep the relationship going while living apart. You may have wondered how to deal with long distance relationship problems that invariably come up. It can be difficult, though not impossible to keep the romance alive and well.

One important first step in getting involved and keeping a long distance relationship is to define your relationship. You and your partner need to agree on a few things:

1) Are You Just Going to be Friends?

2) Will You be Intimately Connected When it is Convenient?

3) Or is This the Makings of a Genuine, Solid Love Affair?

You both will need to figure out what the limits are, because as things get difficult, it will help ground the two of you to know the boundaries of your relationship. Understanding these limits will help prevent heartache later because you both know where each stands.

It is helpful to discuss each of your expectations about the level of the relationship you hope to have. Defining what cheating means in the context of your particular relationship is important. For instance, is it OK to see a movie, go to a restaurant, meet at a bookstore, or go shopping with an opposite sex friend? Or, will doing any or all of those things cause a rift in the relationship? There are no right or wrong answers, but, having this frank discussion ahead of time helps set the groundwork. It is important not to push the process or try to turn the relationship into something more than either of you hopes it to be.

Are you presently involved in a long distance relationship or are you about to begin one? Deciding to have a relationship from afar can be exciting, and can work if it is based on trust, mutual respect, and commitment.