How Are Your Communication Skills?

There is an energy field between humans. And, when we reach out in passion, it is met with an answering passion and changes the relationship forever. ~ Rollo May

Most of you are more than just familiar with social networking – whether it is through LinkedIn, Facebook, My Space, or Twitter. How many of us can’t even go through an hour of the day without texting, emailing someone or checking your Facebook? Yes, I realize you are reading my blog right now, which is a relatively new way people interact with others – building communities of people who are interested in what others have to say. And yes, many of you correspond with me via text, email, Twitter or Face book.

There is no doubt that social media is opening the doors for people not only like me, but others who have a message to share and who want to get it out to as many people as they can in the shortest amount of time. It is an honor to me that you find something I may have to say of interest.


I am all for these ways of marketing or networking yourself; however, recently I started thinking about all of this and began to notice something everywhere I went. Whether it was on public transportation, walking through the mall or the airport, driving down the highway or just walking through the gym, I noticed a common theme. People were consumed with texting, emailing or listening to IPods of some sort via earphones. I never even made eye contact with these people. Their faces were buried in their phones while their fingers were typing away. The only way I would have noticed this was simply the fact that my own cell phone had stopped working! How we immediately freak out when that happens and try to get to the nearest Verizon store before we miss another call or text!


I began to think about interactions of humans. I was in my backyard recently just soaking up some sun (between the rainy days) and I heard birds all around me going crazy with their chirping. My first thought was – “Wow – are those birds annoying!” Then I started thinking about how those sounds were the birds communicating to one another. They were relating to each other. I thought for a minute about how it would be if they were too part of the information technology of the world and communicated via machines and such. Yes, it sounds a bit off the wall, but it did help me to see what we miss when we stop interacting with others one on one. Maybe we’re trying to become like the birds with Twitter! (Ok a bad analogy!)

A friend of mine recently shared that he drove his 14 year old son and one of his close friends to baseball practice and it was a 30 minute drive. He described the drive as “silent” as both boys were buried in their cell phones texting. And one of the craziest things he said was that often the boys were texting each other sitting a foot apart in the back seat! Have we become so dependent on these devices that we no longer know how to interact with one another face to face or even voice to voice?

This also reminds me of something I recently saw on Facebook, and I actually clicked on it myself. It said: Become a fan of “I love my mom.” I joined along with countless others, and then it occurred to me. Why do I have to click on something on a social networking site to show that I am a fan of loving my mom? I laughed to myself because I do call my mom – she isn’t on Face book, Twitter and the like. She is a wonderful mom and I let her know that often – and not just on Mother’s Day.

My point being – sometimes we can get so caught up in the latest gadget or networking tool that it keeps us from being relational one on one with people who may possibly make a huge impact on our lives or vice versa. How many times have you called someone and they don’t pick up, but they’ll text you right back? What’s up with that?? Often we lose our social skills and when it comes to a situation where we have to relate face to face, many are left feeling awkward and less confident. My kids even tell me about how boys and girls who break up with each other via text messaging!

I know many of you do belong to fitness clubs and you go in with your gear, get to business with your earphones and IPods, and there’s nothing wrong with that. But my challenge to you is this – next time you go into your fitness club, keep in mind that you are there with like-minded people. These are people who care about their health and are making giant steps of faith to either maintain or reach goals that are important enough to take them away from perhaps an evening at happy hour or a night on the couch eating junk food. Step out of your “me zone” and make eye contact, give a word of encouragement to someone next you on the treadmill or weight bench and simply acknowledge that person. You never know - that person could be an important key to helping you unlock your future or possibly even theirs!

I may not be able to personally interact with all of you, but if you see me and I'm head - down buried in my phone, remind me of this blog! Let me know how I can help you reach your goals.