How Quality Conversation Took Our Friendship From Friends to Family - Contest #202

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I cannot overemphasize the important of quality conversations enough when it comes to building and strengthening relationships, whether in our love lives or family relationships. When in a relationship with someone, it's very important that both parties involved should be be able to communicate clearly... that way, the understanding is mutual, it makes the emotional bonds stronger, and above all, helps to build trust. A relationship where the understanding is mutual, have a strong emotional bond, and both parties trust each other, usually last longer and all thanks to having quality conversations.

For me as a person, having quality conversations in relationship in my love life if really crucial, I like share a lot of things with my partner and also love it when my partner does the same. We hide nothing from each other. Whenever i go out and meet new people, especially meeting people and making new friends that are males, i always communicate that with my partner, that way, it is clear that these friendships are just for business transactions alone. As a designer, a lot of my clients are males, so it is very important to keep in close relationships with them.

Aside from relationships in my love life, it is also very important to have quality conversations when it comes to family and friends, and even colleagues at workplaces, to avoid misunderstanding and be able to know them on a deeper level, and also gain deeper insights into each other's perspective and experiences. The more you get to know someone on a deeper level, it helps strengthen the emotional bond and helps you trust the person even more.

What I think constitutes to a quality conversation

When it comes to quality conversation as a very important in building and making relationships stronger... In my opinion, what constitutes to a quality conversation are: being open-minded, being a good listener, genuine engagement on the topic, having healthy argument, and asking the right questions.

• Being open-minded

In my opinion, being open-minded when having a conversation with someone is really important. When i'm having a quality time with someone who can be a loved one, family member, friend, colleague, or an acquaintance, I always like to be as open minded as possible. I try to be open to new views, opinions, experiences, and insights on even topic i think i know really well. Sometimes, it is from being open minded that we learn new things.

• Being a good listener

I cannot stress enough the importance of listening actively when having a conversation with someone. I have picked up a lot of things just by listening and being less eager to speak. As far as quality conversation is concerned, being a good listener and listening to understand is one of the key components. When the other person is speaking, i try to pay attention and listen carefully to understand what the person is say, that way, i can give better response. If the other person is doing the same, it helps keep the conversation flowing and healthy.

• Genuine engagement on the topic

Whenever i'm having a conversation with someone, i make sure to have genuine engagement on what we're talking about... I do this by showing interest, asking questions when i'm lost and making the person feel that i'm genuinely interested in the topic. This helps make the person feel more free to share their opinions and perspective.

• Having healthy argument

Any quality conversation should have some level of healthy argument. I like this a lot because it shows that no one is pretending and everyone is being real. I don't expect the other person to accept every thing I say or always accept my point of view because we are all humans and can be wrong even if we think we are right. When i'm having a conversation with someone and there's something I dont agree with, I try to make sure I disagree in a very respectful way... This helps to initiate healthy arguments that helps each other learn better from each other's views, opinions and perspectives.

• Asking the right questions

When it comes to having quality conversations, asking the right questions is very important as well... I've developed the habit of always asking questions when having a conversation with someone... that way, i get more information that is useful to me, and also it shows to the person that i'm fully involved in the conversation. The good thing about asking the right questions is that it helps to improve the conversation and also helps keep the conversation flowing better since it makes it easier for both parties to be more engaged.

My personal experience...

For me, having quality conversations has really helped in improving my relationships with my friends and loved ones. The personal experience that sticks out for me is the recent conversation I had with friend... Before I wouldn't call her my best friend, because the friendship was just about 4 months old, so we aren't that deep into the friendship and just know each other on a surface level...

Everything changed the moment we had the time to spend quality time together... During the time we spent together, we obviously had real quality conversations, where we shared a lot about our personal lives, what we liked and disliked, our views of live, hobbies and a lot more.

Because we both were open-minded and shared a lot about ourselves, our conversations became even more engaging than before... we were able to appreciate each other even more and created even stronger connection just by having a quality conversation with each other. It made us realize that we shared a lot in common which made the bond stronger. From that day, we have become more than just friends, we are now family.