Dear Jonathan,
You are wonderful. You have the biggest heart of anyone I know; you are good and kind and true. You are silly and sassy, hilarious and serving.
Life with you is an adventure, so full of spice.
I learn from you daily, I love you more too.
Thanks, thanks for being you.
You're The Best.
x.
One of my dear friends recently asked me what I was learning in this season and I so appreciated the question.
I have a core value of forever learning, growing, letting myself be changed.
It's easy to settle in and think I've "arrived." But I haven't; I know I never will.
In this season I've learned heaps about communication. I said, "I think I'm finally learning a little something about communication."
Response, "What are you talking about? You're a great communicator."
So I thought, people. So I thought.
But let's step back for Exhibit A: so many people told me that the biggest marriage problems stem from communication.
...I didn't disbelieve them, but I wasn't convinced, either.
Even in our struggles over the past few years, I attributed none of the messes to communication misfires.
And now I take it back; I take it all back.
The more I study about communication and the intricacies of human relationships the more I begin to understand that so many of the hurts and conflicts in our lives are a direct result of misunderstandings.
Because sometimes I make no attempt to understand where Jonathan is coming from before forcing him to understand me; we both talk but get nowhere.
Because sometimes I talk louder so I will be heard.
Because sometimes I attempt solving a problem by simply walking away so I don't punch "someone's" face off.
So on and so forth.
Seek to understand before being understood-core value #1 of communication, and thusly of relationships.
I've been pondering this for weeks, attempting to fully embrace it in all the corners of my relationships.
Boom, boom, boom.
That's what I've been working on-what about you?
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