Communication with My Father - Essay Example

Communication with My Father Communication is a very important aspect of human life. In fact, it is a major factor in every relationship. Communication helps to develop relationships and make them stronger. Within families, establishing open-line communication is essential in bringing up children. In particular, the way parents communicate with their child affects the child’s character and view of life. In my own experience, my communication with my parents, especially my father, has helped me become a good person. Bound by respect, kindness, and love, our ever-growing communication continuously gives me the motivation to achieve my dreams. My communication with my father has made me understand the value of respect. In our culture, children are expected to love and respect their parents at all times. Children do not answer back whenever being reprimanded, and they obey their parents’ will no matter what. In my case, I have developed respect for my parents not only because of our culture but also because of the way they have treated me with respect. Specifically, my father demonstrated to us, his children, what respect means by listening to us and giving us the freedom to speak up and say what we feel. As a family, we make time to listen to each other by gathering every night to discuss what happened to us during the day. My parents listen to our stories and advise us when we need their advice. By allowing us to express what we feel, my parents show us the importance of listening to people and respecting their feelings. After the family meeting, I spend time with my father whenever I have the time. My father shows me what respect means by listening attentively and looking into my eyes. My communication with my father is also characterized by kindness. I have a feeling that my father favors me over my siblings. Thus, he is often kind and gentle to me than to my brothers and sisters. I feel this is unfair and should be changed so that my siblings will enjoy the same privileges I enjoy. Nevertheless, I am grateful to my father for showing me kindness each day. He has been very supportive of me since I was a child. We spend time doing a lot of things and telling stories. We enjoy each other’s company and often while away time with stories to tell. He is like a best friend to me whom I can count on in times of disappointments. However, unlike a friend who expects something in return, he does not pressure me to comply with his expectations. This is so because I know what he wants for me and I usually do what I think would please him. I do not ever want to disappoint him because he is my role model. If I fail to be good, I know that he will be disappointed. Thus, to avoid disappointing him, I study hard and limit the time I spend with my friends. In return, he is very kind to me and supports me in every endeavor. Love is also an important factor in our communication. The love of my father serves as my fountain of gladness. It gives me the motivation to strive hard and succeed in my dream, express hope and compassion towards others, and deal with other people with respect. I can feel the love of my father as he communicates with me. He is always after my benefit. Every time we talked, he inquired about my studies, health, activities, and other personal matters. As a son, I feel secure to have him around asking that way. Other children may find my father’s inquiries limitative of their freedom but I never thought of that. Whenever my father inquired about my whereabouts, I tell him everything and keep no secrets. He does the same and shares his problems. This way, we enjoy an open-line communication. However, one problem that I have is how to convince him to quit smoking. It concerns me a lot whenever I see him smoking and coughing at times or struggling for breath. Despite what he is feeling, he never stops smoking and would not like to be reprimanded about it. It hurts me to see him smoking because it could take his life from us. I love my father so much and I do not want to lose him. Despite what I am feeling, I cannot bring up the issue of smoking because of too much respect I feel for him. Likewise, I am afraid that if I bring up the issue, he might get mad at me and establish distance. Nevertheless, I hope someday that I can find the courage to tell him how I feel about his habit and make him stop smoking. My father is my best friend and guide. He is also my inspiration and model. His examples have taught me the proper way of giving respect to others, especially my family members. When I grow older and have a family, I wish to be like him and share the same kind of connection with my children. As I think of the times we have shared, I feel that I will not be a good person without my father because he has shown me some good examples I can carry with me until the day I die. Significantly, my father has taught me a lot about communication. Through his ways of communicating with respect, kindness and love, I have learned to communicate with others in the same way. However, there is still one challenge that I have to bear. That is, to tell him the truth about how I feel regarding his smoking habit. Doing this is a big challenge on my part because our culture does not allow questioning and telling our parents they are wrong. Even so, I know I should find the proper words to say in order to save my father from illness. When I finally have the courage to tell him about it, I hope that my father will feel my concern and love for him the way I have felt the same things from him. Read More