One thing most people, if not everyone, know about me is that I will always tell the truth, and more specifically, the brutal truth. I’m not saying I’m going around saying rude things to strangers and everyone I know because that’s definitely NOT what I do. However, I’m not going to hide things from people. I do it a lot. I mean, it may seem harsh at times, but I like to give it to people straight up. No twisting the truth, and no lies. And that’s the exact reason I do it. Because I hate people who lie. I’ve been lied to way too many times in my life, so why would I become a liar? I mean, I’d rather someone tell me something, whether it hurts my feelings or not, than lie to me.
It sounds cocky to say, and I bet that’s what people think of me. That I’m some cocky girl who thinks she’s better than everyone, so she doesn’t care how she treats people. But that is far from the truth. I don’t think people realize that my saying the brutal truth doesn’t just apply to everybody else, it applies to me too.
While yes, I may be hard on others, I am the hardest on myself. I do this because I just want everyone to be the best version of themselves, including me. The purpose of my brutal honesty is never for it to actually be brutal. It may hurt to hear, but in order to grow, we must feel our pain and grow off the experience it gives us.
I do know, however, that there is a line that can be crossed when giving the brutal truth. This is something I have struggled with and worked on over the years. In middle and early high school, I had no care at all how I delivered a message. I used terrible tone and phrasing when giving honesty, and it truly hurt people more than it helped. It took a while to work on. I’m still working on it, but tone and delivery truly do matter.
While I don’t believe you should withhold information, give white lies, or fully lie, you shouldn’t just harshly tell someone something, either. You have to be gentle, kind, and warm with the person, or else your message won’t come off well. People won’t change if they don’t think people will be on the other side when they do. You must show that you will be there through their pain or show that even if you aren’t by their side, you still care about their future.
It’s hard to work with the brutal truth, but it is necessary in life. It’s how people grow, change and move on. It can be part of our past or present, which is what creates our future.