The success of any relationship relies on the ability to communicate well. Communication is important in all relationships as it allows us to share our interests, concerns, and support of each other. It helps us to organize our lives and make decisions; and it allows us to work together. Effective communication is based on the way we talk and listen, how we respond as well as our body language. We can all learn how to improve the way we communicate because it takes more than words to create a safe, exciting and secure relationship. All too often the signals we send are not those we intend to send, and when this happens, both the connection and trust are lost in our relationships.
When we communicate, we can say a lot without speaking, through our body, our posture, tone of voice and the expression on our face all display a message. If our feelings don’t fit with our words, it is often the body language that gets heard and believed. Nonverbal communication is a rapidly flowing interactive process. Being aware and understanding the cues you may be sending along with the cues others send and pick up from your body language, may not be showing what you are really trying to communicate to others at that moment.
Given how much time my family spent together growing up, you would think that we would have learned to talk to each other somewhere along the way. And although some families that have learned to talk, listen and respond to each other, my family still demonstrates it Laissez-Faire communication style. My family was always quite dysfunctional when it came to communications, or at least it seemed that way every time my mother remarried. After my mother’s first marriage, I was termed an only child after the passing of my little ...
... middle of paper ...
...formity, because the only thing in life that is constant is change.
I have been shown over the years through my mother’s relationships as well as mine, that poor communication not only arises from the communication styles of the people involved, but from the family’s joint experiences, beliefs and expectations. Poor communication in today's family can also arise from structural and external problems such as the continual loss of jobs that has pushed my family, as well as others into financial distress and made our lives precarious. Even the families that are not facing such immediate stresses as how to get health insurance without a job, or pay the rent without an income, there are a number of stresses that are endemic in our society, including the fact that the rules governing family structures and responsibilities are far more complex than they need to be.
When we communicate, we can say a lot without speaking, through our body, our posture, tone of voice and the expression on our face all display a message. If our feelings don’t fit with our words, it is often the body language that gets heard and believed. Nonverbal communication is a rapidly flowing interactive process. Being aware and understanding the cues you may be sending along with the cues others send and pick up from your body language, may not be showing what you are really trying to communicate to others at that moment.
Given how much time my family spent together growing up, you would think that we would have learned to talk to each other somewhere along the way. And although some families that have learned to talk, listen and respond to each other, my family still demonstrates it Laissez-Faire communication style. My family was always quite dysfunctional when it came to communications, or at least it seemed that way every time my mother remarried. After my mother’s first marriage, I was termed an only child after the passing of my little ...
... middle of paper ...
...formity, because the only thing in life that is constant is change.
I have been shown over the years through my mother’s relationships as well as mine, that poor communication not only arises from the communication styles of the people involved, but from the family’s joint experiences, beliefs and expectations. Poor communication in today's family can also arise from structural and external problems such as the continual loss of jobs that has pushed my family, as well as others into financial distress and made our lives precarious. Even the families that are not facing such immediate stresses as how to get health insurance without a job, or pay the rent without an income, there are a number of stresses that are endemic in our society, including the fact that the rules governing family structures and responsibilities are far more complex than they need to be.