For those who are currently in a long distance relationship, this is not news to you. However, for those who are not involved in a long distance relationship, I will take some time to fill you in. In the simplest of terms, long distance relationships are extremely hard. They require an immense amount of work, communication and trust. The following list is compiled of several commonly shared thoughts of people who have had or are currently in a long distance relationship.

1. You feel like you are dating a phone screen.

Your days are constantly jam-packed with phone calls, texts and FaceTime calls. When you are not busy, you are almost always utilizing some method of communication via your phone just to feel as though you are with your significant other.

2. It can suck when schedules conflict.

Due to the fact that your primary form of communication is through your phone, there is not always time to sit down and have a conversation when both of you have other obligations to attend to.

3. People invalidate your relationship.

For some odd reason, people love to trivialize your relationship. The distance may be a deterrent, but it is not what makes or breaks a relationship.

4. You are wishing for time to go by.

Ultimately, you are always in a state of anticipation, awaiting the next time you will be able to see your significant other.

5. The time you spend together is short.

When you are with each other, the time spent together is never enough, and the thought of a goodbye is always on the back of your minds.

6. It can feel like years.

When you are apart from your significant other, it can feel like centuries. It is not easy transitioning from seeing each other every single day to only seeing each other two or three times a month.

7. The major events are sometimes missed.

Your partner cannot always be there with you. It is not as exciting when you are giving a recap over FaceTime.

8. Certain needs are not met. (Do I really have to say it?)

Although I am not going to explicitly say it, you know exactly what I am talking about.

9. Plans are harder to execute.

Of course, you plan to do a variety of activities with your significant other. However, the time comes when the list of plans begins to grow and the amount of time to follow through with those plans is not enough.

10. Cooperation and communication are necessities.

You have to be flexible in a long distance relationship. The overall goal is to arrange your schedules in a way that provides the most time with each other.

11. Trust is key.

It can become quite concerning to realize that your significant other is hundreds of miles away and free to do whatever they please. That is where trust comes in.

12. You remind yourself why you are doing all this.

Honestly, I have only highlighted the negative aspects of a long distance relationship. However, let us not forget why we are committing ourselves to a long distance relationship. This person is obviously extremely special to us, or else we would not be subjecting ourselves to the late nights of FaceTime and phone calls, or the pain of missing them. The memories made and the time spent together makes all of it completely and totally worth it.

I am lucky enough to have my significant other live two hours away from me, and although it is not much, we still struggle with it. For those of you who have to deal with thousands of miles standing in the way, just remind yourself why you continue to stay in the relationship and hang in there.