Long distance relationships. The perfect couple in an imperfect situation. Not being able to be with the one you love puts strain on your heart, but finding someone so special makes the waiting and the seemingly minuscule amount of time you can actually spend with them worth it.

I, myself, had been fortunate enough to meet someone very special who just happened to live in a different hemisphere. I was fully aware of the challenges that came along with long distance relationships, but I threw caution to the wind. I was faithful that our love would be enough to hold us together across all the months and miles that kept us apart.

There came a time, though, where the countdowns to see one another got longer and even longer yet. There are beauty and bravery in believing in the power of love, but one must be prepared for a time when it becomes clear that even love cannot surpass the exigency of a long distance relationship, and one must remove their proverbial rose-tinted glasses to examine the relationship in realistic terms.

Making the decision to end your long distance relationship is not abandoning faith in the power of love, but it is instead affirming it. I think that when you truly love someone, you have the ability to remove your selfish desire to simply have them and can let them go with the knowledge that both of you could benefit in other areas of your lives.

We resist letting people go for fear that we will regret it and feel incomplete in their absence, neglecting that it is also a catalyst for new opportunities of happiness and new connections to form for both parties.

Once you two part ways, focus on doing things for yourselves. Take the opportunity to chase after new experiences, the things that you have been wanting to do but haven't because you were devoting that time to your long-distance partner. Summer was a time that my partner and I blocked off to be with each other. Once we decided to part, I dreaded the summer because I knew I would miss my partner that much more during that time. But after wallowing for a bit, I realized that it meant I would instead have the opportunity to travel to another place, take an internship, or one of the other things on my to-do list. My partner would have the opportunity to take summer classes and focus on his education.

If your long distance relationship must come to an end, please realize that your lives are not ending along with it, but they are just beginning. Loving someone does not equal being with them.