What I Say Is My Responsibility, What Others Don’t Understand
We have a natural desire to feel emotionally connected to others. It is with this intention that we relate, and in the exchanges that are relationships, several different interpretations can arise, which is why many misunderstandings are created. These are not, however, our responsibility.
Misunderstandings occur as a consequence of the fact that interpreting is necessary for communication and the fact that each person is different and unique and can interpret the same situation completely differently. This generates annoyances, discussions and even emotional breakdowns.
The greatest distance between two people is the lack of communication
Sometimes others don’t understand us, even though we explain something a thousand times. This is not to say that the person is bad, stupid or indifferent. He’s just another person and he has a different way of thinking, different from ours.
We must be responsible for what we say but not blame ourselves for what others understand
The strength and possibility of upset and misunderstanding is proportional to the degree of emotional involvement we have with the people who are part of a communication. That is, the more united, the stronger the relationship, the more likely it is for us to interpret our words.
At this point we shouldn’t fall into the trap and, of course, we shouldn’t allow anyone to make us feel bad for unrealistic expectations placed on us. We have to pay special attention to this, because there are people who usually complain about everything and take us into their world, making us victims of their personal storms.
It may also be that, due to personal situations, someone is more vulnerable than usual and that with our comments, words or actions, we touch a sensitive point and jeopardize the routine stability of communication.
As we see, there are several factors to be considered in a relationship. It is impossible to control everything, mainly because we change and are ambivalent. That’s human nature. Even our interpretations, therefore, are of the most varied.
However, whatever a conversation within a relationship, we should only be responsible for what is within our reach and analyze what we can improve and what we do well.
In this sense, we cannot allow ourselves to become hostages to our inner conflicts, nor to negative feelings that can create different misinterpretations. So, if someone comes to us with some negative behavior or comment, with bad intentions, we have to take a deep breath and offer our worldview as clearly as possible.
That way, we’ll send the message that we take our responsibility for what we say. We will always try to put our ideas in the best possible way, but interpretations are beyond our control, being the responsibility of the person who creates them.
