How do you communicate?
I found this article to be very helpful and I think it would apply not only to marriages but to any and all relationships. Hope this might help you if you find yourself with a communication trial!
This comes from
Marriage Today website…they also have a
Facebook page, you might want to check it out!
Communication is so important in a healthy marriage. For a marriage to flourish, couples need to learn to communicate with each other.
A husband and wife are usually at one of three levels when it comes to communicating with each other.
The first level is pro-active communication. This means talking about things before they happen. This is a great way to communicate, because talking before a crisis allows you to be objective and see things properly. It leads to a peaceful partnership.
The second level of marriage communication is reactive communication. This means communicating after a situation arises and has already become a source of conflict. It’s not such a good way to communicate.
When Karen and I were first married, we were constantly reacting to each other. This led to a lot of tension. We fought and fought and fought. This reactive kind of communication usually escalates into the third level of communication: radioactive communication.
Radioactive communication means we cannot talk about this at all. If it comes up again, someone is going to get hurt.
The radioactive issue in our marriage was money. We absolutely couldn’t talk about it because we viewed money in different ways. I saw money as love—I wanted to share it and spread it to help people.
Karen saw money as security. She was generous but was much more conscious about spending. She saw money as providing for the future and protecting her from chaos.
When we got married, we had never talked proactively about money. We didn’t have a budget or a plan. What we did have was a different approach to our finances. As a result, we got into the worst arguments. I accused her of being a tightwad. She accused me of being a spendthrift.
It got to the point where we couldn’t bring up the subject at all. How do you communicate when that happens?
Number one, you have to start with the radioactive issue, whether yours is money, sex, children, or work. An issue becomes radioactive once it scares you. But you have to stop being afraid of it and get it out in the open.
Tell your spouse that nothing is off-limits. Promise him or her that you can have a reasonable discussion about the conflict without shaming each other, punishing each other, or yelling at each other. Radioactive issues keep you from having peace.
Sometimes, with love and understanding and honesty, you can resolve these issues. But occasionally you can’t. If you come to an impasse, you have to be willing to get help rather than hate one another. You have to be willing to compromise and love each other instead of shutting the other person out.
Radioactive issues can threaten your marriage. Marriages usually fail because things come up that the couple wasn’t prepared to deal with. Be pro-active. Talk about them now before it’s too late.
Jimmy Evans
