Communication is key in any relationship. Whether you're friends, dating, married, related, or are business associates. It is not something that we can live without. Not only do we need communication in order to survive and develop properly, it is necessary to function in the world we live in. Some days I don't want to talk to anyone and  I dream of being in a Irish cottage all by myself sippin' hot cocoa and taking care of Shetland ponies--for the rest of my life. Then I realize that people in my life, while they can bring me down, more often uplift me and keep me sane.

Trying to communicate with one another can be hard because we intend for our message to come out one way, but it is interpreted a different way. When we receive a message, we often think of that message in terms of our own perspective, instead of from the the perspective of the one giving it. Our mood can alter how we decode someone else's message. It's all a jumbled mess of trying to figure each other out.

For myself, I find that body language is the number one way I try to decode what people are trying to say to me. If you tell me you "hate me" but then you won't let me go when I'm trying to hug you goodbye, I don't think you really hate me. In fact, the opposite message is conveyed. You can say one thing and mean an entire other thing. If the person you're talking to is perceptive, and knows you, they will generally understand what you're trying not to say. But even then, we can misconstrue.

Then there are people who hardly ever responds to messages, calls, or let you visit them in person, Those people who tell you they "miss you." No wonder we are confused all the time. How do we fix these problems? How do we understand one another? I don't have a clear answer, but the simplest one I can think of is to be honest and straightforward. Don't be passive aggressive about what you mean and ask others how they feel before assuming. An example would be something like this: "Am I right in saying that that thing I did earlier upset you?" This opens the door for that person to explain how they feel and whether or not you were the cause of it. Similar questions can be applied to many different situations.

When we are open and transparent about how we feel, we can have less fear that others will misunderstand. Even if people do, we can know that we did our best to convey truthfully what we are trying to say. Some people definitely twist words to purposely get something different out of your words. But for those who are trying to honestly understand one another, being clear and maybe even over-communicating is better than not at all.