Prompt #1: Muddled misunderstandings make me miserable

2.     Consider a time when you unintentionally communicated a message to someone through your message or behavior. How did this person interpret your message or behavior? What were the consequences? What steps did you take to correct the misinterpretation?

   I personally hate misunderstandings and the overly dramatic consequences they can often cause. So I try to avoid causing or being involved in them as much as possible by being clear in my verbal and nonverbal communication with others. I just feel that misunderstandings are always unjust situations for both parties - the person being misunderstood because they did not mean to give this impression (and most likely unintentionally conveyed such an impression to another person because that person already had some preconceived notion about them), and the person that misunderstands because they often end up judging the misunderstood individual based on actions that that person did not mean to convey at all. Personally I think it's fate's way of playing with us because, while most of our actions in life can be based solely on ourselves (my own life motto: "You make your own life, so don't wait for destiny- create it!"), in these sort of misunderstood "he said, she said" "he looks like he is, she looks like she is" situation, life can still pull a fast one on you because you can never completely predict how others will react or interpret your messages and behaviors.
   An example of a situation in which I was misunderstood by others occurred in 5th grade. At that time, I was one of the most quiet students in my teacher's class who always tried to make as little trouble as possible for my homeroom teacher, Ms. Adams.  In the middle of the semester though, we were introduced to a student teacher who took over our class for 2 months and essentially was able to lead most of the lessons, allowing Ms. Adams to take some time off and rest for a few weeks.  However on the day that Ms. Adams came back, we had a class discussion about the project we were about to turn in at the end of the week.  Because I had been at my grandparents' house that weekend, I had not been able to get much of the project done, so I was worried and thinking to myself about how I would finish it in time by the end of the week.  Unfortunately while I was thinking, I also happened to glance upwards at a fly on the wall and my teacher Ms. Adams happened to see me looking up at the same time. Before I knew what happened, she flew into a rage about how we were all being so disrespectful to her, especially Melody who had just rolled her eyes. I remember her saying, "Just because I have not taught you guys for these past 2 months doesn't mean one of my best students should disrespect me by rolling her eyes at our discussion!" At the moment, I was very confused and did not understand that she had misinterpreted my upward glance as a sign of disrespect and thought I was rolling my eyes at her discussion.  When I finally realized her misinterpretation of my actions, I was mortified and extremely bewildered about the situation because I had meant nothing of that sort! When I went home and told my mom about the situation I even broke down crying because I was so worried about her misinterpretation of my actions and didn't know how I could change her impression of me after that misinterpretation.  After my mom finally calmed me down, she helped me write a letter to Ms. Adams to apologize about my misinterpreted actions and tell her honestly that I did not mean any disrespect towards her. I think the letter helped clarify much of the misinterpretation surrounding my upward glance, but after that incident I was very careful to pay close attention to all her lectures and ignore any upward buzzing flies on the walls.
   On the other hand, to be honest, there have also been situations in which the tables have been turned and I have misunderstood other people's behaviors.  Something that happened to me recently was that I finally got the courage to talk to a guy that I've always had a bit of a crush on but never had the chance to really talk to. I actually met him briefly the first week of my freshman year and thought that he was one of the most good-looking guys I had ever seen. And because I have always pictured myself as not so a mousy, disorganized, semi-okay looking girl who can look pretty when I put effort but mostly looks just okay because I prefer reading books to doing make-up and watching movies to watching make-up tutorials, I guess I just didn't think he would have any interest in me? Or want to be friends with me? But actually,  when I finally saw him with another friend of mine and got the courage to introduce myself to him, I found that he was genuinely friendly and really quite approachable! He was nothing at all like the stand-offish guy I had originally perceived him to be. Thus I am really glad I took the chance to find out who he really is rather than carrying this inner misconception of him in my mind.