Today's reading in communication was on paraphrasing and being perceptive of another person's feelings. We can't always 'read' a person's mind or what they're thinking, but we can paraphrase to understand that person more. "Are you mad at me because I didn't take your plate to the kitchen too?" Being specific allows the other person to bring more light to the subject, instead of just asking "Are you mad?" to which he/she may just say "yes!" without further explanation, even if you're initial paraphrase is wrong. It might even be something else on that person's mind. She's not mad...she's upset at her boss for being indifferent to her hard work. We should always be perceptive about one another's feelings, otherwise we may be assuming something else, which may even lead to action based on assumptions that are untrue.
One example of this was when my cousing 'Di' was being attacked by her mom and siblings for certain actions she thought was right to do. They were coming against her and attacking her decisions. In doing so, she just assumed that ALL of her family was against her, so she decided to 'take action' by not talking to us, but hiding from us, assuming we ALL were mad, which wasn't true at all. In fact, my mom and I cared deeply about her situation and finally got the chance to reveal that to her one morning at church. She was incredibly relieved to know that we were supportive of her decisions and didn't pass judgment on her at all. As you can see, her assumption of this situation concerning us only led to further isolation between us, which could have even led to further, if not dangerous actions. It's important to clear up any assumptions we might have about a sibling, coworker or spouse to make sure what you're feeling is accurate. Some of these assumptions may be playing on our fear of another's response. Again, it's important that we clear up these misunderstanding by communicating clearly to one another. A simple misunderstanding can lead to a life of hardship!
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