Communication: It’s The Small Things…
I have to pause for a moment of recognition about something trivial but substantiating the benefits of good communication. Night one eating out front of the hotel, Christ and I each ordered our meals and ate almost all of it, feeling content in our decisions and completely satiated. While discussing our eating habits later, I expressed my desires to try a variety of things, not waste food, and my enjoyment of leftovers for a late night snack. He expressed his ability to perfectly anticipate the amount of food he wants, and his need to order extra because “women always want to try some.” (While I hate generalizations, he’s not wrong.)
The next night I ordered enough food to feel satisfied without eating any of his food, and he ordered extra with me in mind. It was entirely too much food, and our fridge was broken. While the dinner was delicious, I felt unresolved and restless by the waste of food and money.
On the way down the stairs this evening, we both revealed our inner thoughts from the night before and how, though thoughtful towards each other, our assumptions led to the inaccuracy of our order. (You really begin to discuss insignificant things when you’ve been together 24/7 for more than a few days!) As I ordered tonight, I let him know I hoped to share and he added just enough to have some things of his own. I couldn’t help but smile as we sat back enjoying the perfect evening temperatures, finishing off the food with refined precision.
This ability to communicate should be the bare minimum, and some might say I’m grasping at straws pointing out such a minor moment, but I like to acknowledge the small wins. I hate wasting food and I love resolution through good communication (even if the resolved situation was not much of a problem to begin with!) And don’t fret, we continue to be great at the bigger things like sharing our needs, wants, anxieties, and gratitudes despite the stress of his pain and our wild lack of preparation compared to our usual travel modes.
