Things to Remember

In response to Mr. LOLcatz question, no, unfortunately relationships, and communication, (in my case human) will never go away and I just gotta deal with it.

Fortunately for me though, I at least learned some things in this class about how to deal with others. I learned how uncannily accurate Dane Cook is when it comes to my relationship with my BF. Even he agrees with the majority of what Dane Cook says about relationships. But, seriously, this class totally gave me a new outlook on how to approach my relationships. And not JUST with my BF. Some of these things I learned in my Psych classes that I took. But Communications seems to go on a wayyy deeper level than what I learned in Psych. I didn't even realize all the terms and concepts related JUST to the field of Communications. Hey, I never even knew you COULD get a degree in it. I think it is awesome though that the study of Communications exists. This way (hopefully), people learn to co-exist better. A lot of the things I have learned in this class I never realized that I was subconsciously already trying to put into effect in my relationships. In a way it is all about manipulating things in your favor, though in doing so, the other person is happier and benefits from your work as well and then, they play off of that.

I hope that 5 years from now, when I am sitting with my cat (one that I am planning to get in the near future! Sooo exciting!) and my BF on the couch in his house, after I get my Wildlife Biology Degree, we are more in tune with each other. Everything that I have been trying to put into practice since I was 18 shows its positive effects in our relationship. Hopefully, by that time I either have, or am close to having enough money to buy my Honda Fit (no name yet for that one) and I am more satisfied with how far along in the growing up process I have come. My dog will probably with be gone by that point, and that will be excruciating to remember how I wrote in this blog with this thought in mind, but at least I can be secure in the knowledge that I have other great things to look forward to.

Relationships

I met my BF when I was 18 in a bookstore. He is a lot older than me. Now I am 23 (Oh my god! Time flies! I feel so old!!!) He is is now 33. He is such a baby about things though ;)

We have been together for close to 5 yrs. and I have recently (Aug.2009) moved in with him. It has been pretty enlightening on how different a previously somewhat long distance relationship is compared to when you see the person every day. I definitely appreciate this more than the LDR though, that was tough. This is definitely by far the most important and profound experience of my life. He is my first relationship and I have grown up A LOT by being with him and gaining new thoughts about life and experiences through this time. Even though this relationship is a long term commitment for the both of us, I still wish that things were a bit different.

We both are pretty poor communicators in different ways. He is not good at expressing himself and has extremely strong opinions about certain things. It can give him quite a temper sometimes. I am not always good at explaining myself when I try to say things and that can lead to confusion and frustration on his end and he ends up feeling offended since he misinterprets things I say. I am not trying to offend him, but it puts me in a difficult position of constantly making sure I say the correct things to express my thoughts and feelings in a better way. I know he thinks a lot differently than I do and I am still trying to learn about him. We are also both very stubborn and hard-headed when it comes to each other. I have a hard time letting things go and he has a hard time not letting his anger get the best of him.

For quite a while now, I have been trying to change my bad habits that can led to relationship issues little by little. After all, Rome wasn't built in a day. I try to keep an open mind about things and hope my continuing positive behaviors and differences ,that I slowly am trying to develop for the better, rub off on him and how he responds to me and things that happen in our relationship in return. I cannot change him, he has to do that himself, but I hope in a way, that through me changing myself for the better will make our relationship a more positive one for the both of us (even if he doesn't recognize the changes in himself that might occur).

I love him a lot though, despite his faults, and I know that his selfless love and caring for me in turn, us having a close connection as companions and partners in this relationship, all contribute to how we can attain longevity as a couple.