7 Steps to Understanding the Importance of Communication in a Relationship
Relationships are complicated. Nobody goes into or comes out of one assuming they’ll be easy. And every relationship we go into brings entirely new factors into play. After all, even understanding ourselves can be a challenge sometimes.
With so much to consider, how do we help to grease the wheels of our relationship so that it works better overall? A good place to start is with a thorough understanding of the importance of communication. With that in mind, join us today, as we bring you seven important roles communication plays in any relationship.
1. It Helps Strengthen Respect
Effectively communicating within a couple allows both parties to develop their respect for each other. The idea is simple: people are emphatic. They can understand on a very subtle level when something’s wrong.
It’s also a sign of a healthy relationship. When it comes to talking about what’s going on in your life, they understand more by what you don’t say than what you do. When you have something to say, whether it’s good or bad, you need to say it.
Your partner may have insights you aren’t expecting, and going through it together will help to strengthen your bond. More than that, however, it indicates you respect them enough to be mindful of how this might affect them, and you’re honest enough to speak plainly. A lack of communication can have the opposite effect.
2. It Takes The Guesswork Out
Mark Twain said: “If you tell the truth, you don’t have to remember anything”. This is one of the biggest benefits of honest communication within a relationship.
A healthy connection with someone doesn’t come from withholding and remembering a string of little lies. It comes from being transparent with them.
Learning how to improve communication skills means you can go about your business, never having to worry about getting “found out”. Your relationship becomes simpler, leaving both of you less stressed and, ultimately, happier.
3. It Helps To Avoid Misunderstandings
As close as we may become with our partners, every relationship is made up of two unique people. And everybody has bad days.
Sometimes we miscommunicate. Other times, we forget to say things that are important, and the intricate gears of our relationship get gummed up.
Communicating helps to prevent miscommunications–it’s as simple as that. When we express ourselves to the people we love, fewer things go unsaid. We become more used to explaining concepts and ideas in a way other people understand.
And, overall, the people we love come to expect the truth from us. This is a much healthier kind of relationship, and it takes the pressure off when you aren’t worried about saying the wrong thing.
4. It Builds Trust
Trust is one of those factors in a relationship that is both important and more than a little time-consuming. It takes time to develop trust, as they say, and not without good reason. Without an intrinsic trust in the person you’re in a relationship with, you can’t let the relationship breathe enough to ever be able to grow.
This kind of hard work is a big part of why many relationships fail in the long run. Both partners have to be consistently open with each other, communicating honestly. Better communication between you and your partner leads to more trust in each other, and better trust leads to more confidence.
Effective communication techniques help to make you and your partner feel secure. Without that, it would be hard for any relationship to prosper.
5. It Lets Partners Support Each Other
Sometimes the best benefits are the simplest. Life can get difficult, and in dozens of unique and wonderful ways. When it does and we’re single, the result is that we usually have to live through it alone. Not in a relationship.
The problem comes when we don’t communicate our hardships with each other. When you run into personal challenges, you need to make yourself available so that your partner can be there for you, even when it doesn’t seem like it. They can offer you a shoulder to lean on, which is great, but they’ll also get the benefit of knowing they were a part of your process.
Remember: nothing can get better if your partner doesn’t know anything is wrong. If you can improve communication skills between the two of you, you’ll each be the support the other one needs.
6. It Helps To Grow Love Between Partners
Love is, and this is going to sound corny, a lot like a flower. You have to water it. When we let our communication go stale, our love can suffer from lack of nourishment.
We can’t expect to continue earning love from someone if we stop communicating entirely with them. Sometimes the love in a relationship just dies down, and there’s nothing you can do to revive it.
But, more often than not, what’s missing is honest communication. The kind that got you to fall in love in the first place. You have to be able to remind each why it was you fell in love.
If you’re putting in the effort from both sides to keep the fires stoked, you run less risk of drifting apart.
7. It’s Great For Your Mood
One of the greatest gifts in any relationship is being able to express your genuine happiness to someone. When someone is genuinely happy and has a partner with whom their communication is sound, their happiness can be like an echo chamber.
When you are honest and joyful about something in your life, that honest communication allows us to express our emotions. And, when we do that, that elation feeds into both parties.
Sharing your happiness with someone, openly, sets a mood of happiness that helps to create more of the same. This is a healthier way to process our emotions and a natural booster for any relationship.
The Importance Of Communication In Your Relationship
People say all the time that communication is vital to any healthy relationship. What they don’t tell you is why. How many things hinge on you and your partner being able to say what you mean to each other. How it affects your mood, your love for each other, and even your day-to-day stress levels.
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