Friday, June 1, 2012

Sugar Coats


 A wise woman once said, “Life is too short to sugar coat, so be honest and the pieces will land wherever they are supposed to.” (Feel free to ask the identity of the wise woman). I’ve never been one who would deliberately say something to hurt another’s feelings.  I try my best to be honest and tactful, especially when it comes to those I love. I would never want anyone, especially my family or friends, to think that I was judging them or putting them down.  But if you are constantly so conscious of that, how do you know if you are really, truly, being honest with people? If you are trying to be careful with what you say, how do you know if you are helping that person or being a crutch to plain foolishness? On the other hand, if you are being so honest, how do you know that your “un-sugar coated” honesty is not sending that person into a major slump?  I’ve made decisions that were really dumb and some that were dumber (get it? Dumb and Dumber?).  “Anywho”, I can’t remember anyone using words like “dumb”, “stupid”, “ignorant”, or “brainless” when I was receiving advice on how to move beyond a decision I made.  I guess I did not need to be reminded because I already used those words on myself.  When someone is asking for opinion/advice on a “situation”, the one thing that rests on my mind is, I never want that person to come back to me and say, “Why didn’t you tell me how foolish I looked”?  I know the saying, “the truth hurts.”  I know you can be honest without calling anyone outside of their government name, obviously.  Is there such a thing as being “too harsh?” Maybe all of these questions depend on how detrimental the situation is and/or has the situation turned into a trend.  I am only talking about adults/grown folks here. You can give advice and opinions, until you are purple in the face and STILL, grown folks will do what grown folks will do. So, I guess you can only relay honest advice in a way that you see fit at the time. At least you will be able to say to yourself, “I told them.”

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous6/01/2012

    Some people don’t want honest advice. They want a co-signer, a “YES” friend. If you are a true friend tell it like it is. Friends shouldn’t let friends do dumb things.

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