There are many different languages spoken around me daily including English, Spanish, Swedish, German and more. It is quite fascinating that we are all living in the same community, working together and understanding each other even though we don’t all speak the same language. You see, there are ways to understand what someone is speaking or communicating to you if you really make an effort even if you are not familiar with that language.
After many years of marriage counseling Dr. Gary Chapman concluded that there are 5 ways that people speak and understand emotional love. This breakdown of 5 different love languages we speak to our partners helps us understand and communicate what we really want and expect from each other. I recommend his book if you have not already read it and I really believe that this can help people that are constantly hitting road blocks in communicating with each other and expressing love to one another. Once you read it you will know whether you are someone who feels love better through words of affirmation, quality time, receiving gifts, acts of service or physical touch. Understanding what your partner’s love language is will help you to communicate better so that ultimately you will both be happier and more fulfilled.
The Languages of Appreciation is another book and exercise to help businesses understand and appreciate their staff and employees better. We had our staff members take a survey and found out how to better demonstrate appreciation for each and every one of them. This not only makes people feel good but also inspires them to stay focused and strive to do better everyday. The languages can be posted in a break room so that all staff can see eachothers language in order to know what makes that person happier and motivated.
How about body language? The way you walk and talk, or the way you sit or shake hands with someone. What do these things say about who you are, your personality or your culture? Our body gestures, facial expressions, eye contact, posture or the even the distance we keep from one another speak about who we are in some way. Being able to read and understand someone’s body language helps us ultimately become better communicators.
Regardless of where we live or have lived we all speak different languages in some way and making an effort to understand each other and to appreciate the different ways we communicate will ultimately lead to having a more balanced and beautifulife!
My affirmation for you this week is;
"I will strive to find better ways to understand and communicate with those around me knowing that the language they speak may be different from my own."
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