Communication

I am beginning to realize the many different communicational experiences you can have. Really communication involves EVERYTHING! You can't really do something involving another person without communicating. It just doesn't happen. For example, my little sister is trying out for the high school musical and you wouldn't think that would involve communication- just a one-way, you're watching me audition. But really it does involve a 2 way communication. She's communicating to them, I'm trying really hard here, let me in, please! And they're communicating back from their movements or voice, we like you or not. It's interesting to watch different situations. For example tonight, I tried to be nice and make dinner and the couple I was making it for went and got Chinese instead. Communication. Me, volunteering the service, and them communicating altogether no service necessary. That kind of communication sucks! I'm not gonna lie.. :) But that's the point of communicating anways, right? To figure out what the other person wants or get your wants/needs across.
Just getting my thoughts out. :)

Relationships

Today in class we discussed relationships in depth. Brother Embree asked us to think of two relationships that we've had that have gone bad, or that we want to strengthen. I thought of all my relationships and realized several that may have gone "bad" over the years. Friends from high school that I once was so close with, have seemed to wander on to different paths than I have taken. But then, I've met so many new people that mean SO much to me, and for different reasons. I'm realizing that I'm growing up and maturing and finding importance in different areas than I did when in high school. Then it was all very superficial and now it seems so real.
Thinking about the relationships I'm gaining and losing makes me think about those people that are important to me:
My family is number one! These people are not only my family (mother, father, siblings) they are my best friends! People think it's silly that I call my mother 3 times or more a day, but when I want to just "chat".. that's who I call. I turn to them for advice, for love, for comfort, and for everything else I need. I hope that they feel the same about me.
My roommates are essential to my happiness here at school. In the past I've had roommates that, you know the saying "Make it or break it?" well... suffice it to say, they broke it. Finally I made the best decision I've made since I've been here at school and moved in with the people I live with now. What a joy they bring to my life! They offer advice, support, a shoulder to cry on, and FUN! I know these are lasting relationships because the give and take is the same on both sides. It's a healthy great relationship.
My friends at work are the people that are next closest to me. I would call them my best friends as well. I tell them about my day, my life, boys... everything! (after 3 hours of work everyday- you pretty much know them inside and out) They also keep me going, cheer me up, and help me to see the brighter side of things- or they grump with me :)
I love relationships- making new friends.
I guess after all of this evaluation I hope that if I read a post on my friend's friends, I could be listed on their lists. I hope that I am as great a friend in return as they are to me.

Listening

I didn't fully understand until the other day, how important listening is our communication with others. I thought I had the concept of listening down, but what I was really doing was "hearing". Listening is taking in the information and actually... caring? Yeah. We did an example in class where we talked with a partner and told them a problem and they did the same, while listening we had to listen and not offer advice but try to help them solve their problem by having them sort through their feelings. It was super beneficial to me. I'm terrible at listening to a person's story and always comparing it to a moment I had similar to theirs. So now I'm trying to listen to what people have to tell me and ask them more questions about it and how they're feeling towards it. Vs. moving the attention from my friends to me.
An example:
Yesterday my good friend was telling me about this guy that she likes and they text frequently and he hadn't texted her in a hour or so. She was upset about this. I thought instantly of a moment where the same thing happened to me and was just about to share this moment, when instead I decided to ask her how she felt about that? She continued to explain and sort through her feelings. In the end she ended up being happier about her situation vs just hearing a dumb story from me. It was great!
I'm going to try to implement this in my everyday conversations from here on out.