How Emotions Affect Our Communication Skills Essay

Emotions are a funny thing. Whether or not you’re an ardent believer of emotions make or break a man, I think that lines stands true. Emotions can make us sail in the colors of being so pleasant at one time while another sort of emotion can wreck a man’s image as being barbaric. Just to figure this concept out, I undertook the assignment to see how emotions affect me on a personal communication level. To keep a close watch on my emotions for a few days was a task I was rather excited about! The first ‘official’ emotion I felt according to my journal was of happiness.

I had woken up the first day or my college and felt an unbelievable excitement about what the day was going to entail. I got dressed humming my favorite song and off to college I was. Just by feeling a very happy person I knew the day was going to be an amazing one.

Obviously, when you’re beaming with the joy, nothing can possibly bring you down. I was shocked at confidence I felt when I was content in my own skin. I greeted new people, in the new atmosphere and basically made quite a few friends. The whole day I felt like I was an energy ball and I was willing to sit in the front row of class, not afraid to listen and question the teacher.

I actually thought that my positive energy sent out great vibes to the others also as they were not hesitant in carrying the conversation along with me. And the teachers were more than eager to answer my inquisitiveness. That only made me happier. I took part in a debate the next day. Not an official one but a sort of an unofficial debate with some college students at the local cafeteria. The debate was about ‘Terrorism can’t be uprooted at the expense of Civilian lives”. The talk was about a controversial topic and I was one of the few people who were agreeing with the topic.

I soon realized that the people on the opposite team were talking purely without any reasoning. That registered another feeling in me…the bad feeling…of anger. I saw my enthusiasm evaporating and being replaced by mild irritation. In my mind I kept wondering how people could think so wrong. Before I had a chance to speak out, some of the debaters concluded the debate and childishly dances around thinking they had won. I was furious. That is the exact emotion I had put down in my journal. But that is when somebody out of the “against the topic” crowd came up to me and acknowledged my views on the subject.

She seemed like someone I could talk to because she sort of “had my back” per say. She was willing to sit there and listen to me view. She nodded as I spoke and later on told me how I had managed to erase the wrong views from her mind. I was overwhelmed. Someone’s sincerity had cleared up my earlier anger. I felt like I could trust that girl. She became my good friend instantly because when the trust factor plays its positive role, the communication takes another height. I talked to her freely throughout the day and I was amazed to find out we just connected on a very high level.

I had found somebody I could trust(Meyer, 2002). I wasn’t sure what the next big emotion I would feel until I got a call from my uncle in telling me he wasn’t coming to visit me and my family due some issues with his business. He had been planning his visit from South Africa since the last 2 years. His whole family was supposed to come and stay with us for a month. I felt dejected. After he had told me the news, I phoned my parents to talk to them about the sadness but understood his reasoning. They were as disappointed as I was so we talked about how much we miss him.

I communicated freely with my mother who explained to me that perhaps we could go and visit him. It made feel lighter if not better. That day when I came into contact with my college fellows, I wasn’t the usual cheery girl as I always had been. The communication skills that day were strained, I realized. I didn’t really talk to anyone more than the usual greetings. As soon as my friend from the debating group came to me, I knew she could transgress the limits I had set around myself that day. And so she did. Just because with her I felt a bond of trust, I confessed everything to her when she probed why I looked so down.

I leaned on her and she stood by me trying to be a good friend. By analyzing my emotions led communication skills, I can conclude that they have a major part in our everyday lives. Knowing how to control emotions is a bigger task though because emotions don’t always allow us to think clearly. Whatever we feel, we ought to keep it in tight check and be realistic about it.

References:

Aliki. (1986). Feelings (Reading Rainbow book). HarperCollins Cain, J. (2000). The Way I Feel. Parenting Press Meyer, J. (2002). Managing Your Emotions: Instead of Your Emotions Managing You. FaithWords