Communication Breakdown Part 2

Advice for guys:  Most of the time,
she’s not thinking this stuff consciously. 
It’s her wounded inner child (part of the subconscious mind) talking.  Luckily, there’s a pretty easy fix.  When you ask and she replies with a “yes”,
look her deeply in the eyes and say, “Are you sure?  Do you have any reservations about
it/problems with it at all?”  This will
tell her that she matters to you, and if she’s mature enough and does have
reservations, she’ll spill the beans then. 
Another thing you can do after the fact is to pay a little extra
attention to her for the rest of the weekend, in unexpected ways.  Give her a big hug, or tell her some specific
thing you love about her.  Don’t over-do
it, or she might think you’re trying to make up for something bad you did while
you were out.  Little things will help
put her inner child at ease. 

Advice for women:  OK ladies, if you
don’t want your guy to go out, just say no! 
Or at least talk to him about it. 
Be willing to share your feelings, even if they don’t seem to make
sense.  Maybe the friend he’s going out
with is a hound dog and you’re subconsciously worried his behavior might rub
off on your honey.  Logically you know it
would never happen, but there’s a little part of you that’s worried.  Lighten it up if you can, but speak your
truth.  It’s perfectly acceptable to say,
“I know you’re nothing like Joe, but there’s still a small, mildly neurotic
part of me that worries.”    Are there
conditions to your agreement?  Tell him
up front, not after the fact.  If you
expect him to do yard work all weekend, he’ll take it as punishment if he
doesn’t know about it in advance. 

More from YourTango: 5 Ways Abandonment Issues Can Ruin Your Relationships

One sign of maturity and enlightenment is the ability to speak your truth in
a clear way that does not intentionally harm another.  Men and women both have challenges with this
aspect of personal growth.  Men can learn
to speak without harming the other person, taking a careful look at an “honesty
at all costs” policy.  Direct
communication doesn’t have to be blunt, and it doesn’t have to be hurtful.  And women can practice communicating more
directly.  One tool you can use is to
pause before responding to a request. 
We’re conditioned to respond immediately to a request, usually with a
“yes.”  If instead, you listen to the
request and then pause before answering, you can decide what you really want to
do.  You can also practice saying, “I’m
not sure, I need to think about it.  Can
I get back to you?”  Trust me, the world
will not implode if you learn to say “no.”