The value of communication in relationships

On Christmas Eve we watched the old Christmas classic White Christmas. It's a quality flick, especially if you fast forward through the boring songs and only listen to the good ones. There are also lots of examples of the value of communication in relationships hidden throughout the movie

If you haven't seen it in a while, you might not remember these scenes. But the principles are always applicable. Betty and Bob's relationship (it sounds like those names are made up, and I guess they are. They just weren't too creative when writing the script I guess) almost went down the tubes (with Bob having no idea why) because Betty didn't communicate.

So what can we learn about communication from this movie?

1. Don't listen to gossip. And if you hear some, don't rely on it to form your opinions of others. You wouldn't want someone to do that to you.
   
2. If you hear/suspect/see something negative about someone you care about, before changing how you act towards them, talk about it. Maybe that thing isn't true. Or maybe they aren't aware about how it comes across to others. Or maybe they just need to see their actions from another perspective. At the very least, they would know why you started acting differently.
3. Give others the benefit of the doubt. We all make mistakes. You have. They have. Once again, you may just be  misinterpreting things.
4. Recognize the value of communication. Recognizing that the only thing that you could lose when communicating openly, honestly, and sincerely is your pride. Sure, it might confirm that your suspicions about the other person are true, but that gives you valuable information about them and also lets them know how their behavior affects you. Another barrier to communicating is just that it's hard. That's ok. All you need to do to start is...  
   
5. Make an effort to communicate. When I started writing this post, I was going to say that Betty was a terrible communicator. Then I realized that really she isn't a terrible communicator, she just didn't even try to communicate. Sure, her actions communicated "I'm not interested in you," but really that wasn't they issue at all. The message she sent wasn't consistent with her thoughts, probably because she didn't...
6.  Remember that other people can't read your mind. This one is super important. Because it's true. If you just start acting differently, they probably won't know why. It won't change anything, and expecting them to know why you're upset certainly won't help the situation.

This is just a quick summary, and I know there are a number of other points that could be added to the list. What would you add? I also know (from personal experience) that applying these principles is much harder than listing them. Do any of these stand out or remind you of any life experiences? Comment away!