To put it simply, I was naive.

I had no idea what the long-distance relationship that I so desperately wanted for myself entailed. Being idealistic, I envisioned my boyfriend at the time driving to my school of choice on Saturdays for football games, kissing me goodbye as he promised to come back the following weekend. I didn't think about all of the hardships that would surely come between visits, like getting sick of seeing each other through FaceTime, wishing we could be watching Netflix together instead of strategically planning on watching the same shows at the same time, whispering, "I miss you," over the phone and wanting desperately to hear voices in person.

I didn't think about the complications because I was so focused on how everything was going to go right.

Not to burst your bubble, but things don't always go the way we think they will.

For instance, I didn't end up at my school of choice and the boyfriend who I was planning this dream world with was my ex before any of it really mattered.

Months later, I found myself in the LDR loop again, wondering how it was going to work, hating the distance between us more and more every day.

But this time, it worked.

It worked because we tried.

We knew it was going to be difficult, and we knew some days it was going to downright suck, but giving up wasn't a choice.

We made time for each other. We didn't just make time for Snapchats and texts, we made time to be face-to-face, to sleep in the same bed, to talk about our lives.

Maturity plays a bigger role in a long distance relationship than most people realize. If you aren't mature enough to trust your partner and have faith in the bond you share even when you're miles apart, it will never work.

So if you think even for a second that you aren't ready, reassess. I certainly wasn't the first time this was an issue in my life.

Effort is the single most important element when you're dealing with a long distance relationship. It's the basis for everything. If there is no effort, or if things are one-sided, how can you expect anything to work? Both people involved need to be willing to try and close the distance whenever possible.

This may seem daunting, a situation that everyone will try to avoid at all costs. I promise you, though, that the fight of a long distance relationship is so, so worth it.

That is, as long as you're willing to try.