Reading further into Sean Covey's book The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, I have found that my communication skills are not up to par. I become really frustrated when I am trying to talk to someone and they think they already know what I am going to say. They do not listen; they just sit there and pretend to listen. When I finish talking, they respond to what they "heard", which does me no good. Even though I am aggravated by this poor listening, I frequently and unconsciously do the very same thing. I need to be a little bit more open-minded when I am listening to people, so I catch what they are really trying to communicate.

I, like everyone else, crave to be understood. Often times, life would be so much easier if my parents used the "mirror" listening Sean discusses in his book. When I tell them things, I feel like I am talking in a different language, because they just do not understand me. I hate repeating myself, and I usually don't have the patience to try to explain it a different way. My mom also has a problem with probing. The fact that she asks so many questions is not as annoying as the way she asks the questions. She asks looking for a specific answer, and so she does not listen to the answer I give her. When she does listen, she listens selectively and often twists what I say. I think my whole family could benefit from a lesson in communication.