How to survive a long distance relationship!

Many people say that long distance relationships cannot work. Who hasn’t heard that a relationship while at University, for example, cannot last? In those few months leading up to that farewell I was told time after time, “Be prepared for it not to work out.” You almost set yourself up for a fall before you start. With everyone telling you that it won’t work you get to a point where you start to believe it.

Do not get disheartened, there is hope. If your love is strong you can make it through. Although it is hard you have a chance. The main difficulty is trust. Over that sort of distance you have to trust each other without question, and breach of that trust can lead to destruction. You have to be not only in love with the person but completely devoted to them mind, body and soul to survive the separation.

If one of you is not as dedicated as the other the distance will tear you apart. It is the everlasting test of love. Those who survive have a stronger relationship for it. SO, you may ask, how do you survive the most trying times you can face in your relationship? It’s not overly difficult, but I’ll give you some pointers.

1 - Take each day one at a time.

When you are apart it is easy to think about how many weeks or months you are going to spend away from each other. The trick is to concentrate on getting through each day. Although the time apart will still be the same, by splitting it into smaller chunks each part of that time is easier. You will notice after a while that the weeks have flown by.

2 - Keep busy.

Do something to keep yourself active. The less time you have not doing anything the easier it is to pass the days. Having other things to focus on keeps your mind away from being alone. Try joining the gym or taking up a hobby.

3 - Keep in contact.

Don’t go days without talking. Its easy to get caught up in the excitement of somewhere new but believe me, not talking to each other frequently can cause doubts. My partner and I talk everyday, and have done for most of the time we have been apart. Even if it is only for a few minutes a day it is enough for you to tell them that you love them and to make sure they are ok. The longer you go without talking the more paranoid you can end up getting.

4 - Make the most of time spent together.

One of the easiest things to make a long distance relationship work is to focus on doing things together. The more often you can get to see each other the better your time apart will seem. Months break up nicely if you see them every couple of weekends. Don’t waste those precious moments together, talk, hug, enjoy being with one another and remember why you are with them.

Career Path

Changing a career path is not an easy decision, especially when it is as radical as my decision needs to be.

Over the past two years I have been embarking on the journey to become a Lawyer. Law degree, applications to Law firms, and much more. Every decision was made with a view to following this legal career path. Although I always had in my mind that if that failed then I would have a back up of teaching Maths. A subject I had always enjoyed and doing something I half did in school.

Now I am at a crossroads. I have reached a point where much as I like Law I am unsure that it is for me. I have been analysing what it is that I want from my career. Is it to earn lots of money while doing something "interesting" or is it doing something that you enjoy (and always have done) with a view to making a difference. At this moment either a career in Law or Teaching could take one role or the other.

The next few months will be make or break for my legal career. Depending on how well the start of my final year at Uni goes and also how I find my week with the CPS will influence my decision one way or the other. No matter what I will be completing this final year, BUT, I may not be applying this year for the LPC I may apply for the PGCE.

November will be my decision point. I want to have made my mind up one way or the other by the end of November so I can start my applications before Christmas. My CPS week is at the end of October, I will then talk to a careers advisor and get their advice. Then by December I hope to have started my applications.

Lee's Graduation

I was so proud of my fiance this weekend. He was the first in his family to graduate from uni. OK so it was only a HND he will tell you (if you ask) but that isn't the point is it.

If you have never been to a graduation before it can be a bit difficult to imagine. Picture a big hall with all of the graduates in suits with their robes on feeling very special. All of the faculty sat on the stage in their robes looking very smug (and bored if you ask me). This is most parents proudest moment other than their child's wedding day.

SO the scene is set, and the graduates are lined up. Then comes the bit that takes the longest, members of the teaching staff stand up and read out the names of all of the graduates who decided to come to the event. As each name is called different volumes of claps and chears are heard (depending on the number of family members in the audience). By the end of the list your hands are tired, however Lee was right near the end so we had too save some energy to clap our loudest for him.

It was a beautiful event and something that we will have to go through again many times in the future. Next will be mine, then my best friend, and finally him again.


Shot with V3935 Digital Camera at 2007-07-26

Very Strange Dream

I had a very strange dream the other night. It wasn't a bad dream, it wasn't a scary dream, it was just a little bit odd. You know how dreams can be comforting or disturbing, well this one was both.

It was that point in the night where you wake up knowing its morning but want to go back to sleep. As it was the weekend I was able to go back to sleep knowing that I didn't have much to do that day. So in that second wave of sleep I had the most vivid dream, as I always do. The most vivid and memorable dreams fall in that second wave of sleep.

What was the dream I had then? Well, let me elaborate. The dream started with me finding out I was pregnant, not bad, it happens. So when I had the baby, my fiance, the baby and me were still in his room in his parents house. Not bad, well his room is the smallest in the house and there is barely enough room for the two of us. So when there were three in my dream it was very tight. The baby grew, but no-one else did, and the dream ended when my baby was about 5 years old.

So what, you may ask, was strange about that? Firstly, we both decided that we would not have a baby until we had our own home. Secondly, the rest of the family didn't get any older so it ended with my baby being older than his youngest nephew. AND Finally, I have this feeling inside that it was a vision of my baby, my son. Beautiful rosy cheeks, gorgeous dark brown ringlets, big brown eyes, perfect in every way. I heard his voice, what a wonderful voice it was too, ringing and clear, not sharp, the voice of an angel.

Sorry if this seems odd to you but it was so real even though time was a bit off. I am shocked at myself but I just have this belief deep down that it was my future son.

Work Related Stress (again)

By the end of the evening this is what I wanted to do to my work computer. Not because of the computer but because of the people ringing me through it!


It was one of those up/down days where good and bad things happened in tandem. I received some really good news from my Team Leader, my customer service score was 100%. However after receiving that news I went on to have some really nasty, awkward calls. People don't seem to realise that if the system says no then nothing can be done for them. No matter how many times I try to explain that to people they have this belief that the Team Leaders can work miracles.

What makes people think that "managers" are all powerful? They seem to believe that by asking a manager to do something suddenly the answer changes. MOST of the time it DOESN'T.

So although I had some really good calls, as you do in a 6 hour day, some of the calls were of the above type. Including the last call of the evening....

I finish work at 10pm so when a call comes through at 9:50pm you get a satisfied feeling knowing that you could make the call last 10 min then you can go home. All well and good unless that call is the worst one you had all day. At 9:55pm I was asked by the customer to get my "manager" who, in their mind, would be able to change the computer system. NOT likely. So one of the TL came over to talk to her and after another 15mins she is still unhappy. luckily the phone dies and the TL decides not to call her back. So I get to leave for my bus at 10:15... not good when that is the time the bus is due.

Missed the bus had another half hour wait for the next one. Great!! What a day!!!!!

Blue Moon

As you may well know it was a full moon the other day (31/05/2007) and to top it off it was a Blue Moon. Now full moons affect me most of the time anyway but blue moons the worst. I am always a bit cranky when the moon is full and especially if it is the second one of the month. Worst bit is that the blue moon has also fallen in the month of my birth. Not good!!

So, that set the day up really. I woke up feeling really bad, having not slept well. Other than that the morning was really quite good. Went out for lunch with a friend, and didn't get served until 2:15 (so I was really hungry). BUT again not too bad. Then things start to go down hill. Firstly it starts to rain so I get soaked. Then I went to work.........

What a night! Starts off with some simple calls which I can cope with. Then I get a transfer from another department for a problem that is their's to solve. While trying to explain that to them they decide to just transfer the customer through anyway. At which point, while trying not to lose my temper, I explain that I need to pass them back to that department because it is not my call. STRESS NUMBER 1

The evening continues fairly well until my last call of the night. This customer decides that everything that has gone wrong is my fault and that I am only not helping him because I don't want to. It was like trying to explain to a brick wall why it needed a hole cutting into it for a door. Nothing I said was going through to him. He kept saying something when I had just explained really clearly that it couldn't happen. He wasn't happy, and then started asking to talk to my team leader... who had gone home incidentally... so I looked around and saw that all of the team leaders were busy. Nothing I could do I explained, but no.... he decided that he would "hold for as long as it took" (this is at 9:45, 15min before we were due to go home). Luckily one of the team leaders became free and was able to sort something out for him. STRESS NUMBER 2

So, that was that, except that I was then due to go out that night. After all the stresses of the day I felt awful. I decided not to go out but to go home and get some sleep. Not that I was tired by the time I made it home. STRESS NUMBER 3

So thats the stress that a blue moon puts me under.

Intro

Hi,
I've been blogging on MySpace for a while now but decided that it was a bit boring just having it on there. This is why I have decided to Blog properly.

So what is it I have to say to the world. I'm Wiccan, a very misunderstood religion, and I am a student. I have opinions on many different topics and am not afraid to share them. I am learning the Kabbalah and would like to share my journey with the world.

So this is me... a 20 year old Wiccan Law student with something to say to the world.

Blessed Be and thanks for reading
Crystal