Men are not taught to communicate by society. They are taught to hold everything inside, encouraged to not feel. Hide it, because you’re not a man otherwise. Society is wrong.

My husband used to be a therapist and he still has only started opening up more in the past couple of years. We have been together for a while now. It’s that hard for someone who used to be a therapist. Imagine how hard it is for people without those experiences.

And unhealthy behaviours are everywhere. Literally every person has unhealthy behaviours – behaviours which are considered abusive. We are all raised in an inherently abusive society. Is it such a shock? All we can do is try our best to manage our issues and try to help each other and accept that perhaps not being perfect isn’t such a bad thing. It opens the door for understanding.

Language is inherently flawed in that people attribute their own meaning to it. You shouldn’t feel like that. To one person means that your feelings are being denied and dismissed and to the other, I didn’t mean for you to feel that way.

When you are short on time, quality of communication is really important. The difference between a relationship that is struggling and a strong one is the number of positive and negative interactions. At least 5 to 1 is recommended.