Communicate, listen and apologize!!! That is one of the biggest lessons that parenting has taught me, but it applies to every relationship.

So many of you say that you like/admire the relationship that I have with Marco, my “nephew-son”. The key to the strength of our relationship is that we communicate about everything, listen to one another, and apologize when we are wrong.

It is not your job to only communicate about the things that you feel comfortable talking about or the things they don’t trigger you. It is your job to communicate about any and everything that impacts your relationship with the other person.

It is not your job to only listen when they say something you want to hear. If you value that relationship, you will listen even when you disagree with them so that you can have a better understanding of their perspective.

And, above all, when you are wrong, APOLOGIZE! This one alone can save and protect so many relationships.

I cannot tell you that this approach is always easy or smooth – it’s not – but what I can tell you is that it is far more rewarding and healthy than the alternative.

If there is someone in your life that you love and value, make an intentional effort to communicate your feelings to them regularly… And be sure to LISTEN when they do the same. It will pay off more than you know! ❤️

Malcolm MJ Harris