Masking Poor Communication

Communication with anyone is difficult at best, and can be non-existent at other times. Learning to convey the meaning behind the thought so the person being spoken to fully understands what is being said can present even the most linguistic speaker a challenge at some time or another. When the conversation is between spouses or loved ones, it is no easier than speaking to strangers. Even though one might think they are speaking clearly, many times they are conveying an illusion of understanding (Anonymous, 2011).

Being able to convey ones thoughts to another person is one of the most difficult things we have to learn as humans. Our lives are so busy, we often forget to take time to slow down and just breathe. When we rush through our daily lives, we do not take the time to make sure those we are speaking to actually receive the meaning or purpose behind the words we speak. Those words, if tossed around carelessly, can in fact do more harm than we had ever imagined.

I am constantly only half listening to what my husband says to me. I hurry through our conversations and usually leave out an important fact or fail to give a full explanation of something that has happened. As an example, recently, my mother passed away. It was an unexpected occurrence and when I got the news, I was home alone. My husband is an over the road truck driver, and was on his way home to North Carolina from Ft. Worth Texas. I called him to give him the news so he could make arrangements with the company he works for to be home with me as I tried to deal with the loss and figure out how I could get to Arizona for the memorial service.

I was pretty upset and did not communicate what had happened, which made my husband think something had happened to either me or one of our children. Even though my husband and I are very close and we can actually complete the other’s sentences at times, this is one time when he had no idea what I was trying to tell him and I could not get my...