The Impact of Interpersonal Relationships on a Person - Research Paper Example

Interaction and Relation: Analysis and Reflection of Interpersonal Communication Maintaining and keeping relationships in a smooth situation is relatively difficult and problematic. Things will no longer be the same and the manner of relationships changes. It is dependent on the person’s disposition and condition. At the same time, there are abrupt changes when it comes to perspective especially if a person interacts with others. All throughout this paper, I want to emphasize how relational maintenance, including conflict management and communication climate, can affect an individual’s lifestyle and perception. Inevitably, people experience conflicts in their daily lives. In most cases, things become too complicated demanding thorough engagement in order to resolve the conflict. The question I would like to focus on is on how someone would be able to manage conflict through interpersonal communication. How would I be able to apply the theory when it comes to my personal experiences? I have to admit that relationships always have conflicts, it is something that can ruin a long term relationships. At the same time, it can make newly found relationships to be short term ones. For several years of my existence, I have met several people along the way. I have sustained several relationships with newly found friends, potential lovers, and relatives. All of these require sustainability to keep them smooth sailing as I go on with my life. Until now, I could not deny that maintaining relationships is something that can be difficult. One of the most formidable relationships I experienced was when I had a conflict with a friend over a person that we both liked. I was torn between two extreme choices. Would I pursue my interest towards the person that we both like or give way to keep our friendship intact? We know each other for a very long time. We have been really close. We share our secrets with each other. It seems like we are siblings. I just had a difficulty of telling him that I liked the person because that person came first to tell me that he liked her. That became a moment of shock on my part. I really did not know what to do. Conflict of interest appeared to be our drama back then. The moment that I did not want to happen occurred unexpectedly. That became a problematic condition for both of us. I had to endure days of argumentation and hate. We despised each other. There was competition between us two. It was a matter showcasing the best of ourselves. We came to the point where we were destroying each other and our own selves. Eventually, we both realized that we had to resolve our conflict or our friendship might be destroyed. How would relational maintenance, conflict management and communication climate affect the process of interaction between the two of us? Relational maintenance deals with the quality of the relationship which includes all the important aspects of it: the mutual effort to sustain the relationship (Relationship Maintenance – Maintaining Quality). There are five things that one must take into consideration to ensure happy and fruitful relationships. There are strategies provided to show how one must act accordingly in a situation. All of these strategies shall be applied in my case to understand the role of communication theories in our lives. I shall investigate and try my best to use five concepts in my situation. Positivity is one (Relationship Maintenance – Maintaining Quality). This concerns the need to have an optimistic attitude in relationships. This attitude seems to be vibrant with us at the start. It shows a matter of sustaining one’s disposition in relationships. Disposition affects the relationship gravely. If one of us is a bit pessimistic, hence, it cannot be avoided that my friend would have been mad and problematic about me. However, when the conflict entered the scene, things had abruptly changed. Both of us started to have a negative view of each other affecting the dynamics of our relationships. This paved way to several problems where there seemed to be no reconciliation. Assurances become the second point of importance in sustaining healthy relationships with any person (Relationship Maintenance – Maintaining Quality). At the start, we assured each other to be the best friends no matter what, even if out-of-this-world things happened to us. This is where the issue of trust comes in. We trusted and ensured the safety of each other when it came to our secrets and mishaps that only the two of us knew. There is no inhibition from both of us because we knew that no one of us would disclose any private and personal matters because it was bound by friendship. The sad thing is that we had not been able to assure each other’s safety especially during that moment of conflict because we had forgotten each other’s worth. There seemed to be a loss of recognition on our part that the person we were bashing was someone that we valued. Openness is the third important matter to sustain a healthy relationship (Relationship Maintenance – Maintaining Quality). This is where I think the relationship with my friend failed. There seems to be a selfish condition where we both failed to be open about things that would greatly affect our relationship. I would commend the act of being open about the matter of affection towards the person that we both like. However, I failed to tell my friend what seems to be bothering about it. By such ignorance on my part, I have placed our relationship in a tremendous risk. Competition and hate had risen and we hurt each other every time we open our secrets to other people just to feel better. Both of us had been narcissistic in that case. Social networks are the fourth aspect that matters in relationships (Relationship Maintenance – Maintaining Quality). This is the one that I consider to be problematic and harsh. What seems to be crucial with this is that our conflict, which had escalated, extended even to our other friends forming factions and alliance which were risky and detrimental. When that happened, our friends joined the fight and made things more complex and complicated unlike the time when the problem concerned only the two of us. At the same time, bullying took place. Since our secrets had been exposed, both of us became vulnerable and weak. Self-esteem and morale have been so low since our reputations were at stake. People had been so judgmental of us. During those times, I was saddened by the situation where I was even scolded by the elders because of the irrationality and immaturity of my acts. This is a very tough struggle on my part to be responsible when it comes to my actions. Last point is sharing task (Relationship Maintenance – Maintaining Quality). This is where the most crucial aspect of our relationship comes in. We had been sharing our secrets, goals and dreams. In all of our nasty acts, we were together. “Partners in crime” would be the best description for us. The saddening part is when we both decided to ruin each other. Our tasks are still shared. It is inherently mutual. Both of us were risking ourselves. Some people might think that I was destroying the credibility of a friend. I failed to realize that whenever I did such thing, I was also sending an impression to other people that I was not trustworthy because I had betrayed my own best friend. Inevitably, it was not just me who experienced such problems. He also went through that shame that I had endured. These are things that I have failed to find a solution since I have shown the weaknesses of our relationship. Later on, I realized that the more I dwell on the conflict instead of reparation, the more complicated the problems and things would be for us. As thing went on back then, I just kept in mind to look for some peace within myself before I engaged the raging conflict between us. As the process of reflection went on, I realized that there was a need to have an initiative to do something in relationships to be able to save them. The points I have raised played a crucial role for me to restore the things back to its normal flow and condition. Inexplicably, self assessment happened. Positivity guided me to recall all the best things that happened between us and I treasure every single moment. Having done that, I can say that my life is at its best whenever we hang out and have fun. Both of us, I still recall, had been so aspiring and inspired to pursue our goals and dreams in life without putting any importance on what other people say especially if it was about us. Optimism is something that cannot be taken away from anyone. Assurance, as I recall, seemed to be the probable reason for the occurrence of the best memories between us. Whenever we felt down, we both assured each other that things would be all right and that no one can stop us with whatever decisions we were. We always thought of assuring each other that we must fulfil our dreams and aspirations. Both of us decided to stay side by side since our friendship had been so strong. I vividly recall that we always assured each other of safety whenever we wanted to do something notoriously funny. We always guaranteed that no one of us would be caught in the act. This is something that I consider to be worth keeping. That simple act cannot be neglected and devalued. At the same time, it shows compassion and care from a true friend. After our conflict, I just realized that nothing bad would happen anymore. Instead, everything changed for the better. After our conflict over a petty love affair, we are even closer to each other. We are more open and whenever a dispute happens, we always do our best to lessen it so things run smoothly for both of us. That way, we can no longer allow the same kind of problem to happen before because we already know the gravity of the damage that it inflicted to both of us and the people around. Social networks may have been damaged by that conflict. However, when we had finally settled our issues, it came to our attention that we had to fix things with other people so that we could remove all the negative impressions and things about us that they had concluded upon seeing our troublesome attitudes. This way of reconciliation shows that we are sensitive to others and ensures that they will not be involved again with such. I cannot deny that the wrong impression of the people has placed us in a disadvantageous position where there is stigma against us. The process of recuperating from the self inflicted damage takes a while. However, the process is still worth. At least, I was able to develop new bonds of friendship and establish more linkages. Furthermore, I still cannot neglect my friend who has been one of the most special people in my life. All of the processes that we had gone through were actually shared. The vulnerability is shared. We had both been working out in fixing and clearing the damages we incurred to ourselves and others. This shows a joint effort in fixing the damage. Both of us shared this responsibility since it were us who placed ourselves in such risk. I cannot deny that I enjoyed the manner of fixing things again because it was also a chance for both of us to strengthen our relationship as friends; make amends and compromises things that would be beneficial for us. All throughout the process, one thing that is worth mentioning is that we fostered a very serious communication climate where we tried to avoid conflict as much as possible, being more adventurous and easy going to enjoy most of the things about life. Our friendship is something worth fighting and keeping for. This person is one whom I can consider a family. I know that my family will be there and they will always be. Friends, especially the true and best ones, are hard to find. Following such convention and standard, I cannot afford losing this friend. We have been through so much good and bad stuff. More things will come along our way. I just need to keep it alive. My friend must also do the same thing to reap off the benefits of a good relationship and communication. In the end, one must understand that having a healthy communication with other people that we treasure so much is important and a must. One can use the precautionary measures to ensure that minimal conflict can be solved with a commendable solution so that that the relationship will be strong no matter what happens. At the same time, I can say that the individual must be responsible whenever there is an interaction and communication going on. There is a need to be sensible, considerate and understanding of the people around us during the process to avoid mishaps, misunderstanding and conflict. There is a need to be conscious of one’s actions. To avoid further aggravation, one must be sensitive to what others feel. This is important so that we cannot offend others and make them treat us scornfully. What I can give as an advice to people whenever they communicate to others is they must be assertive about what they say or feel and there must be certain degree of consideration to others who are around. Friends might be comfortable around us when we communicate. There is a different form of communication with families since most of the intimate relationships start here. Even in the schools, there is a different ambiance that must be compensated for. It cannot be denied that our friends become the next batch of people who will be intimate and close to us no matter what happens. Adjustment will always be the best way to survive our highly interactive world. Since people have different attitudes, there is a need to complement each other. That can be the best way to show how we value relationships with other people and we will feel special in return. References Relationship Maintenance – Maintaining Quality. Retrieced April 12, 2012 from Relationship Maintenance - Maintaining Quality Read More