It is my feeling that maintaining a good relationship (be it online or face to face) is part of living healthy and happy. Our communication skills are important to maintaining these relationships that help us to be healthy and happy. How is it that YOU communicate? How often do you communicate? Do you initiate conversation?
The people we interact with on a regular basis see us at our best and at our worst. (Online communications in most instances are seemingly one dimensional and leave lots of room for miscommunication). We would like a healthy overflow of those best moments. Communicating wisely and effectively can help us.
No one likes to be offended and no one likes to be insulted/ignored. These are common sense statements, but it is amazing how often this is ignored. The lack of providing the same etiquette for online communications that would be extended face to face can cause the undesired effect of feeling insignificant or insulted by the abuse of one’s time. Always take into consideration the attention that the receiving party is giving to you and respect that no matter where the communication is taking place.
Insults can come in two forms, words and/or gestures. We can avoid a lot of problems by thinking before we speak (I tend not to do this very readily but I’m working on it). Choosing our words before sharing them may be all we need to bring a smile to someone’s face rather than a frown.
Think about how you communicate. Sometimes the way you say something can mean the exact opposite of what you intended. Think about the message your body communicates to others.
When was the last time you called that “best friend?” Part of communicating is taking the time to say I care by starting conversation and initiating the contact whether it be by phone, email or in person. We tend to get so wrapped up in our desire for the other person to do the communicating that we isolate ourselves from being communicated with or bonding with that friend. Equal effort by both parties makes the most of communication and the relationship.
Do you initiate contact with your friends and family? Do you call and share your thoughts and concerns? Sometimes it's up to you to make the contact and this is a healthy way of communicating to others that you care about them. Take the initiative to say that you care. Another key thing to remember is that you might be busy and not have the opportunity to make the effort of contacting those you care for, but if someone else is trying to communicate with you and you have been relatively unavailable, it would be courteous to return their call or email. Open channels of communication circumvent possible mis-communication and even resolve some rather intense situations in long distance relations.
I rely heavily on open/honest communication in my interactions online and face to face. I demand that this level of communication take place. I also have been working to assert 100% of my attention to those I have chosen to let into my circle. I can only apologize for the lack of focus from before and communicate at this time that I want to put forth the effort to develop our connection. Thanks for sticking with me through the good, the bad and the attention deficit disorder (lol). I look forward to connecting with you more and more attentively in the future.
