Communication

My son, Jeremiah is beginning to figure out that the noises he makes command various responses from us. For instance, when he makes noises at night he knows that Mom will be in shortly to feed him. When he screams while in the high-chair, however, he is promptly given a spoonful of mashed peas (something he very much enjoys...). And when he is tired of learning how to crawl he has figured out that by frumping his little body onto the carpet and whimpering in an irresistibly adorable manner he will be picked up - and the crawling lesson postponed. He has not figured out how to communicate things like,

"Excuse me dad, I believe that my diaper is dirty and I would really appreciate it if you could take care of that."

Or,

"Yes mom, I understand that every other time you have put me in this high-chair you have always given me enough food, however, the 2.3 second delay between spoonfuls of mashed peas fills me with the fear that I will never eat again so I scream violently and flail my arms in panic."

So here's what I'm beginning to understand about communication from my son - it is something that is developed over time. We all figure out how to communicate on the fly. In a dating relationship things start out awkward. For instance this scenario might play out in your life, if-I-say-that-to-her-she-knows-his-friend-whom-she-might-tell-and-if-his-friend-knew-that-I-thought-that-HE-might-find-out-and-that-would-be-embarrassing! Hopefully, if the relationship develops, you'll leave this crap behind and realize that you wouldn't worry so much about what people thought of you if you knew how seldom they did...

Tonight I'm going to be speaking with all of the group leaders at Elevation about communication. If 2007 focused on structuring for growth, 2008 will be structuring to sustain that growth and one of the key components to sustaining growth will be establishing open and effective ways to communicate!