Communication vs. Disagreements

            Communication plays an important role in a relationship and usually is the cause of many misunderstandings, harsh feelings, and disagreements. In this post we will be discussing important questions about communication such as why communication is so important to relationships? how is communication related to misunderstandings? how communication avoids disagreements? We know that communication is a big part of a relationship.

            First, why communication is so important to relationships? I believe that communication is a central part of a relationship because people are connected by words, tone and nonverbal communication. About 14% of communication is spoken by words. We can express our feelings, ideas, thoughts, goals, and dreams through words. Words are the clearest form of expression, but not necessarily the most truthful of them. It is easy to hide truths behind words, say words without meaning them, use words that do not necessarily express what we feel, see, think, or want. These are reasons why we have different tones and body language. 35% of communication is expressed by tone. Think about it, when you say, “thank you,” it could mean thank you, or could mean “great, you did not help at all” and these different meanings will only depend on your tone. That is the reason why our tone in communication is so important because the same word can have different meanings depending how you say it. 51% of our communication is based on our body language. Body language is the process of communication through our gestures and movements. These gestures and movement can tell a lot about how we feel, think, see, and want without saying a word. I consider body language to be the most truthful form of communication.

            Second, how is communication related to misunderstandings? Did you ever think how the lack of communication could cause a misunderstanding? Yeah, it is true that the lack of communication can cause many misunderstandings. For example, when I first got married, I notice that my husband got upset because I has throwing the tv’s remote controller to him. I did understand why he was upset because in my family I was so used to throw the remote controller to my siblings or my parents when they asked for it. I could just throw it to them without a problem, but my husband got upset whenever I did it. At first, I thought he was being dramatic, but after we talked about it, I could understand his point of view. In his culture you never throw something at someone because it is a sign of deep disrespect, kind of like how you would treat a dog. When he told me that, I was astonished because I did not mean that, I simply wanted to pass him the remote controller quickly and did not want to stop what I was doing. This experience taught me an important lesson about communication. To avoid misunderstandings, we must talk through things. Communication it is an important tool to avoid conflicts.  

            Finally, how communication avoids disagreements? It is impossible to reads someone’s mind, so to know what someone is feeling, thinking, feeling, or wanting we must communicate. We need to speak up for ourselves and for others. It is okey, to let people know how you feel. It will avoid many disagreements because people will know what you are expecting from them and what are your intentions. It is very important to be open with people because we are all different from each other, and what I may like you may not. Communication is the base of a relationship, and that is the reason why I believe that we need to practice it well, so we can become good communicators. I also believe that we should be truthful in the way we are communicating with others. If we express ourselves in the wrong way, ask for forgiveness and clarify the misunderstanding. Remember that words once spoken are hard to forget. Let all of us become good communicators to create good and healthy relationships.