During the pandemic, a lot of people are obliged to stay home for work and schooling. The whole family often stayed together. Their enforced togetherness might have created quite a lot of frictions and arguments. Although the pandemic has now eased, a good and peaceful relationship with one another is nevertheless a difficult topic which needs improvement. During this post-pandemic period, how are we going to deal with this matter?
There were sayings that there are 5 types of communication amongst one another, and their proportions. 50% of the people are “Placating” type. As they are afraid of conflicts and care very much about how others see themselves, they naturally please and accommodate others but at the end they feel aggrieved. 30% are “Blaming” type where they often blame and accuse others. Every wrong is because of others and they are not responsible for anything. This often only stops when others got hurt or if the relationship is broken, then they would start to realise their own faults. 15% are “Computing” type. They focus on rational communication and very rarely talk about their own feelings. When being asked about their feeling, they only reply with opinions, analyses and principles, etc., which make those around them difficult to touch their inner world. 1% are the “Distracting” type and they often do not reply as asked, or just to joke around to avoid discussion so that they can avoid talking about their problem and touching their inner self.
The above 4 types (which represent 96% of all) tend to have inconsistent character, cannot face themselves and cannot accept their inner weakness. Only the remaining 4% are the “Levelling” type, who can act consistently at any time and anywhere, and can accept themselves and respect others.
Which type of person are you? Which type of people do you get along with? Which type of person do you want to be? Jesus Christ has become human and displayed the model of being fully human, “full of grace and truth” (Jn 1:14), and He always taught people to be consistent in character (Mt 5:37; Mk 7:6). May God bless you all that, during the post-pandemic period, you learn to touch your own inner world in order to accept yourself and to respect others.