Honesty

Have you ever had to hurt someone's feelings, tell them something that you knew was going to break their heart? And when you told them, you could actually feel their heart breaking, hear it in the tone of their voice? And no matter how long you thought about which words to use or how to best break it to the person, there was just simply no avoiding the inevitable hurt it was going to cause them...

Last night I had one of those conversations. I hurt someone's feelings with pure honesty. I tried to deliver it as kindly and compassionately as possible. It was a message that simply couldn't go any longer without being delivered.

And it did, in fact, break the person's heart. I could hear it in their voice. I could feel it in their words... and it broke mine too. My heart actually, physically hurt throughout the conversation. My heart still hurts now.

I play back my words, knowing I could not have chosen softer words that would've lessened the hurt.

I play back the other persons words, knowing just how much hurt they carried, wishing I could take it away.