Communication!!!!!

It has once again been reinforced how important communication is in any relationship. I'm not just talking marriage, although it is absolutely key to a marriage. I'm also talking about friendships, families, and basically any relationship you can think of. I always get annoyed in books, movies and real life instances where a disagreement or problem that a couple is going through could EASILY be solved if they just take the time to talk to each other. Getting mad at someone and not talking to them, or purposely omitting something does not help. At all. Ever. It just makes things worse. I honestly feel like I am not one to hold on to grudges or draw things out, because of this I feel like I am a good communicator.

In class we learned that when we communicate we go through a process. We start with our thoughts and feelings which we encode, we then use a media (words, tone, nonverbal), then the person we're talking to decodes it and has their own thoughts and feelings. During this process, sometimes, something can go wrong and we end up understanding something wrong or the person we're speaking to doesn't understand. This can be REALLY frustrating. I really do not like misunderstandings, or when people react in a way different from how I want them to. The important thing when this happens is to take a step back and re-evaluate. Think how could I have said this better, or explained this better. I think one important thing to remember is that people think differently, so not everyone is going to get the message you want them to, unless you spell it out for them. 

Another interesting thing I learned in class is that it can be considered rude to text while you're having a conversation with someone. I guess I always knew that but it never really stood out to me before until it was demonstrated in class. It's curious how in common culture today, most people don't think twice about texting in front of other people, or in mid conversation pause to answer a text message. When did ignoring someone or making them wait while you talk to someone else, become okay? I mean in emergency circumstances it's fine, but in regular everyday conversation, why do we do this? I think we need to be more aware of how we communicate, and really pause to consider what we can do better.