My Dear Lover,

In most of the long distance relationships the time you areapart is bigger than the time you are together, and probablyyou will be between being together and being apart more than oncein your distance relationship.

And I can tell you, because I have been there more than once, that the experience of being apart after being together, is one of the most difficult periods in a long distance relationship. It make us feel so horrible, that sometimes we wonder "what is wrong with me? Why do I feel like this?".

Each time we go apart again, mainly three emotional phases happens (Protest, Depression and Detachment).

While you were together, you were inseparable, took long walkstogether and made all moments count, but now is arriving the timeyour beloved as to go away.

It's like something triggers inside you, that say that your beloved is leaving, and you start the first phase, the Protest.

You fight against the separation in all the ways you can.

You feel terrible, you cry without control, some will be angry with "life", or even with their beloved, some will hold and kiss each other like you will never see each other again.

And even at the last moment, when you are at airport, you willignore the last calling of the departure, until you finally realize your beloved really have to leave. Did you ever did this? I did!

But no matter how much you protest to prevent the separation, youare apart again.

Now comes the second emotional phase of separation, the Depression.

You can't stop crying, you miss your beloved like hell, you can'tsleep, can't eat, lose interest for things, you can't concentratein anything, and all you want is to be together with your belovedall time. And that is natural reaction when you love somebody somuch.

This phase of depression and loneliness can last only some minutes, but in most cases it will last for several days.

Finally comes the last phase, the Detachment.

You have to continue with your life, even being apart from yourbeloved, and being depressed won't bring your beloved back.

And finally the day that you will be together again arrives, andprobably, you will have to go throughout the phases of separationagain and again!

So now that you understand "what's wrong with you?" each time youhave to go through the process of separation, does it means thatyou can't do nothing about it?

No, no and no, keep reading and I will show you my advices.

But remember, it's a fact that no matter how many times yougo by the experience of separation again and again, nothingeliminates this three phases. The only thing you can do is torealize their existence, understand each phase, and take action so you can make this experience more "soft".

But do you want to know something very interesting?

It is not only me and you and all the people that are living aLong Distance Relationship, that goes by the Protest, Depressionand Detachment emotional phases, each time we go apart again.

Dr. Gregory Guldner, of the National Institute for Building LongDistance Relationships, shows in his book "Long Distance Relationships: The Complete Guide", that puppies also "feel" the same as us.

According to Dr. Guldner, "Although it's difficult toapply conclusions from research done on animals to the emotionsdescribed in humans, I've found that the reactions of the pups are strikingly similar to the reactions of many of those in LDRs."

And he continues, "When the researchers removed the mother dogfrom the kennel, the pups began to protest. They cried and ranaround the kennel sometimes for hours and even days. Eventually thepups stopped protesting, but they began to behave as if theywere depressed. They slept poorly, they lost their appetites, they stopped playing with toys in the kennel, they lost weight, and they withdrew from other dogs."

And more, "This pattern of protesting the separation, thenbehaving depressed, then developing some emotional distance, seemed to represent the usual reaction of the pups to separation. Because these reactions occur very early in the lives of the pups, there is good reason to believe that the sequence of emotions may even be programmed to help them survive."

And he states that, " Researchers speculate that the sequence ofseparation, protest, depression, and detachment may reflect analmost automatic protective reflex in many mammals. How much ofthis reflex remains in us humans we don't know, but I think itunlikely that we have managed to escape it entirely. More likely, the emotional reactions remain, but we have learned to change the behavior they evoke." "But the emotional triggers that cause the pups to cry for days,and us to feel saddened by our partner's departure, remain deeplyingrained."

And as I told you before, it's a fact that no matter how many times you go by the experience of separation again and again, nothing eliminates this three phases. The only thing you can do is to realize their existence, understand each phase, and take action so you can make this experience more "soft".

And the advice's I am going to give you, comes from my personalexperience, and from the help of 2 fantastic books, (you can findtheir references, at the end of this post) that I did buy, readand apply, that did in fact help me a lot living again and again the experience of being apart again and again.

So my advice's to help you in the phase of Protest (when you fight against the separation in all the ways you can) are:

- Spend the morning or afternoon before your beloved leaves, withfriends. Do something active, to keep your minds "off" of thatmoment, and avoid being alone, crying all the time.

- Don't focus on the pain of being apart again, focus on thepleasure. How bliss you are for loving and be loved. And you willnot be apart forever.

- If it is too hard for you to take your beloved at the departureplace, like to the airport, and stay together as long as possible, then either say goodbye at your home and let your beloved take a taxi to the airport, or take your beloved at airport but say goodbye in the car.

My advice's to help you in the phase of Depression are:

- Let out the emotions, cry, scream. Give permission yourself to be "depressed"(but not for long time!), but please please please don't make yourself miserable.

- Surround yourself with friends and family that can give you allthe support you need, and don't be alone at your room crying alltime.

- Go to work, go to gym, set goals like getting in shape, and stay active. Go to a comedy movie to make you laugh!

- Don't focus on how long your beloved will be away. Take comfortin the fact that you are not really alone, only separated by space.

My advices to the phase of Detachment are:

- Detach yourself of the "pain" of being apart again, but pleasedon't detach from your beloved. Keep strong communication with your beloved. Nowadays we are so lucky to have all the technology to make staying in touch so easy, like phone, text messaging, email, faxes, web cams, etc.

- Don't make the separation between you and your beloved anobstacle, see as an opportunity to grow.

My Dear Lover, face your feelings, understand them and learn to live with them. I know it is easier to speak than do, because to me, one of the most difficult things in a Long Distance Relationship, is this emotional phases of separation.

But I am learning, and getting better each time, and very soon itwill arrive the time when there will be no more go away again. And the same will happen to you.

Be strong , you are not ALONE!!!

Don't measure the distance, measure the Love, Maria Madeira.

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