A lot of the challenges that people face in their relationships are directly related to lack of/or inadequate communication. You do not have to assume that your partner already knows what you have in mind or what your intentions are if you have not deemed it fit to open up and communicate with them. The truth is that humans are very complex and your lack of communication or silence could mean a lot of things and can easily be misrepresented. This is why you have to take the issues of communication seriously if your relationship must work.
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Your partner may look sad and you will be thinking that you have done something wrong or that it is about you, while it may just be work-related issues in his place of work. If both of you do not talk about it, you will be believing in something not true and assuming wrongly. You will be surprised the kind of problem that will be avoided only if people learn to communicate with their partners. Communication is a very crucial and fundamental aspect of relationships which also goes to determine the success of any relationship.
However, one should understand that communication goes way beyond just speaking. The sense behind the words, the emotions, the body languages, the tone, the expressions, etc, are what make for good and effective communication. Obviously, someone can be using words and still end up not communicating anything meaningful. So you see, one of the purposes of communication is to pass an intention to someone, and if that purpose is not achieved, then communication has not taken place. With an effective communication, the event of assumption is reduced.
Instead of assuming and end up being wrong, it will be better to ask questions and be clarified through effective communication. Your silence can be interpreted to mean a thousand things. Your intentions may be encapsulated by emotions, you actions might even be compromised by other factors, so you need to take communication handy. If someone starts to give "silent treatment" to their partner, then you should know that a major challenge is already brewing.
Things as seemingly little as communication error has crashed a lot of relationships. Take this instance; someone may intend to say something, but as a result of difference in tone or even facial expression, it may be interpreted to mean an entirely different thing. This is why communication has been regarded by many as an art that needs to be mastered. The point you start to infer that your partner should know what you mean or "he should figure it out," or "she should be aware," just know that you are already defeating the purpose of communication; which is to prevent assumptions and to clear doubts.
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Story was told of two people that were in relationship and everything was going pretty fine. However, the lady was very secretive and never opened up even in things that are weighty. Well, the guy was beclouded by love so they kept going. One day, he stumbled on some details about her partner from an outsider - it turned out that she had a child which was staying with her auntie and she never told him about it. At first, he did not believe it, so when he came back home, he asked her. She later confirmed it. Now the problem is; the guy has lost trust in her, because if she could withhold this kind of information from him all these years, who knows what else she is withholding from him?
Lack of communication has resulted in more problems in relationships than people can ever imagine. Why withhold certain information when you know that the person will still find out and may not be pleased with you? If you will do well to fulfil your own part of the communication requirements, you will be happy you did. Remember this; communication is not what you do "once in a while" but your it should be your lifestyle in order to strengthen the walls of your relationship.
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