Thanks for the response! I've been looking at NVC, and agree with the templates--they sound a little awkward to me. I like the point about asking questions and then responding with how I feel. Good way to prevent assuming what anybody's intentions were!

I'm still relatively young and a lot of people in my circles have not dated or had any kind of conflict/need for communication yet. Cutting people off due to incompatibilities after a small disagreement or not even talking about it is very common amongst my age group. Still figuring out knowing when the other person is on the same page as me with wanting to communicate or if they'd rather not bother.

What is goal-post changing?