Week 6: Discussion#5

After watching the video in the REFLECTION section, answer the following questions (not less than 5 sentences each):

PROCESSING QUESTIONS:

1. How does communication breakdown affect our relationships with other people?

Communication is a major key to a good relationship. Communication breakdown, however, blocks or hinders this communication. Without proper communication, there will not be a proper exchange of thoughts, feelings, and opinions from the people involved in a certain relationship. These will then lead to a miscommunication regarding major keys of a relationship such as goals, wants, trust, intimacy, fun, and support for one another. After that, conflicts may start arriving which will then result to negative impacts that may even cause the said relationship to end and fall apart.

2. What was the type of communication that the girl mainly used (especially in the first part of the video) to express her feelings, and if Vincent paid attention to it, might have prevented the things that happened to them?

A lot of types of communication were depicted in the situation namely: verbal communication such a talking, written communication such as text messages, and non-verbal communication such as body language, gestures, and facial expressions. In the first part, the girl sent a text stating "We need to talk." that usually implies that something is wrong and they should settle it. He then, however, continued with his anniversary plan in denial and afraid of the issue their facing. Following, judging from the girl's facial expression, as his partner went to her home to tell her about his surprise, she was clearly not happy nor excited about the it, implying that she is not interested at all and would rather have a serious conversation. When they finally arrived at the destination of the surprise, she also did not give a pleasant facial expression and stated that she did not even want those kind of pompous shenanigans, which may mean that she is so pissed or bothered enough that she did not even get to appreciate his efforts because she may now be sick of it, or maybe even of him.

3. What was the main issue between the 2 of them? Could it be resolved? Explain. 

The main issue between them is that the man is to hung up on destiny and is too ignorant and the woman is too much of a pushover. He should learn that the outcomes depend on the actions that he chooses and even other unlikely probabilities can be managed and predicted. He is also ignorant or he just does not have the ability to judge and determine underlying meanings of certain messages and body languages, which could have prevented 3 years of a toxic relationship. He is also to forceful about certain things such as their first kiss and their promising ring, and when things go south, he clings on destiny once more and blames it. He was also too fast on progressing in their relationship, which he should not. On the other hand, the girl was too concerned about her partner and was not factoring her own wants and needs in order to satisfy her partner and prolong their relationship. She said that she was forced to say yes when he asked her because she was under pressure from the people surrounding them which she could have settled once they were alone. She also sacrificed her career by staying in the country. She clearly should have went abroad to achieve her dreams of being a nurse and the man should have accepted that and learned to let go.

4. What lesson/s can we learn from Vincent and the girl? Explain.

Destiny is just a foolish term people use for certain probabilities or certain outcomes. Do not cling on the concept of destiny because our decisions dictate what the future will be and the outcomes it brings with it. Also, certain positive outcomes that we did not worked for to be achieved, such as meeting someone like a partner, can be explained by probability yet we just refer to as luck. In addition, do not be a pushover. If you feel that certain situations are hindering you from achieving what you want, act upon it. Lastly, our reality is a mess. Not all relationships end in a happily ever after. When bad things happen, accept it and act upon it. If you cannot, then let go. It is simple as that yet it is so hard.