Relationships are meant to make a person happy and fill life with joy and love. But it is saddening to see that instead of joy, relationship brings gloom. This could be the symptom of rising communication gap between relationships. Every individual wants to have a healthy relationship, and we will see in this paper that healthy communication is the only way to have it.
There is no clear definition to ‘Close Relationship’. Definition of closeness varies from person to person. For some having a cup of coffee together is closeness, for some it could be an intimate time spent defines closeness. Along with varying definitions of closeness, varies degree of communication. There is always this assumption in close relationships that the other person will understand whatever I say or express. Some even fall under this assumption that the other person will even understand that I even do not speak. Hence they start taking ‘communication’ for granted. And this is where downfall of their relationship begins. (“Relationships and communication”, 1)
Have you ever had a miscommunication with someone close to you simply because you assumed that they understood you? What happened?
Assumption acts like a poison in a healthy relationship. Wrong assumptions mostly add to venomous hazards. A little miscommunication if not resolved, can become a cocoon of misunderstanding and thus can lead to permanent and lasting damage to the relationship.
I have already fallen prey of such misunderstanding when in a troubled relationship my girl friend said, ‘I want to go, and I can’t take it anymore’. From her expressions and comment, I assumed that she wants to finish this relationship and I thought it is over. I was about to reply frustratingly but with calm mind I requested her to think a bit more about it. She just could not understand my reply and asked me what I am talking about. I told her that I assumed that she meant breakup, she had a laugh and explained me that she is just troubled with the hot weather and feel like going out on a long drive. (“Communicate: Improve your relationships with effective communication skills”, 2)
That was the case when a little bit of miscommunication reached at the stage when it can break the relationship. Wrong assumptions lead to wrong results.
How can you make sure that this kind of miscommunication does not happen in the future? Or when it does happen, what could you do to make your communication more clear?
As we have seen in the situation above, small miscommunication may have greater and hazardous effects on relationships. And as we have understood, miscommunication comes from assumptions. My assumption in this situation was on negative direction, I assumed she is talking about breakup but she had different ideas. In this situation, we both were on wrong side. She did not express her mind clearly and I assumed it wrongly. To avoid such double whammy of miscommunication in future, we decided to have no more assumptions about each other’s expression and in the case of any confusion, just ask clearly to the partner. This way we will never have any assumption or miscommunication amongst us. (“How to overcome communication gap in relationships”, 3)
Communication can be beautiful or even hazardous, depending upon how it was expressed and understood. A slight misunderstanding can ruin not just moment but the entire relationship. Hence it is very important to not to assume, or it will be better if you ask clear questions and get clear answers. Don’t just let the vagueness of expression get settled between the relationships, kill it before it grows and that is the essence of close relationships. (“9 Steps to Better Communication Today”, 4)
References:
1. Better Health Channel (2012). Relationships and communication. Retrieved from web. http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/bhcv2/bhcarticles.nsf/pages/Relationships_and_communication?open
2. Scott E. (2011). Communicate: Improve your relationships with effective communication skills. 18 September 2011. Retrieved from web. http://stress.about.com/od/relationships/ht/healthycomm.htm
3. Lifestyle (2010). How to overcome communication gap in relationships? 25 August 2010. Retrieved from web. http://men.ygoy.com/2010/08/25/how-to-overcome-communication-gap-in-relationships/
4. Grohol, J. (2009). 9 Steps to Better Communication Today. Psych Central. 7 March 2012. Retrieved from web. http://psychcentral.com/blog/archives/2009/04/14/9-steps-to-better-communication-today/all/1/
