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When communication fails

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ANN ANONYMOUS/Teen Columnist

In this week’s column I would like to talk about when communication in the household breaks down. To sustain a healthy relationship, dialogue is absolutely essential. When you lose the ability to talk, or chose not to engage in discussion with your family, then relationships, even those that have bonds stronger than iron, can crumble.

I know from personal experience, that sometimes you keep things to yourself for fear of rejection, fear of self-disclosure, or fear of looking stupid for holding such an opinion. However when you do this, you lock up a bit of yourself. Also when you do that you don’t take a chance to possibly teach someone something, or develop a strong sense of who you are based in character and personal integrity. When you harbor an uncertainty of position, you not only become unsure of yourself, you also become unsure of what is true. There is a vast difference between people who are hesitant to converse, and those who refuse for the singular reason that they need to be right. I have come across many people such as this, the kind that even through the sky is blue, they can argue it is purple until you relinquish your side of the discussion. These people don’t or possibly cannot recognize the consequences of always being right. When you’re unwilling to be humble, people can become easily irritated but also they can never truly recognize the value in an equal relationship.

When conversing with someone within your family, you need to trust in the person with whom you need to organize an understanding with. Even a thin basis of trust can build rapidly. So to start to establish that, communication needs to occur, I truly believe that this is imperative.

As readers, can you think of a time where you experienced a difficulty in communication and how you personally sought a resolution to the issue? I’m awaiting your responses… And hope that those of you with more experience have something you are willing to teach me.

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