Golden Advice: Honesty

cause of my honesty, I have been labeled as "mean." At the risk of sounding cliche. people simply can't handle the truth, especially if the truth is not what they want to hear. People only want a modified version of the truth.

their haircut is cruel, as is exclaiming to your best friend that her alligator shoes revolt you. Unwarranted criticism is unnecessary and unproductive.

My friend asks me if she is moody. I reply "yes." She asks for examples. I give them. She throws a conniption and refuses to talk to me for a week.

Honesty. What a golden word.

I have found throughout my 20 years of existence on this earth, people simply don't appreciate or want genuine honesty. Some will even confuse honesty with being "mean.''

Perhaps we should get something straight. For the sake of this argument, meanness is when one individual purposely emotionally harms another individual, for the sake of doing so. Being honest is completely different.

I am extremely honest and be-

Honesty is always constructive, whether it hurts someone's feelings or not, because the intention is sincere and the result is usually, depending on how the individual chooses to interpret it, beneficial.

I am fully aware that there are certain individuals who, no matter how earnestly and compassionately they are informed of the truth, feel as though they are being attacked. Granted, there are certain situations that demand us to mask our true thoughts in order to spare the individual's feelings.

I would never intentionally try to psychologically injure another person, nor would I want anyone to inflict the same treatment on me. Honesty is not something to fool with and should be utilized wisely.

For example, yelling to an unfamiliar person that you don't like

On the flip side, I am grateful and forever in debt to a friend who has the courage to share their honest opinions with me. Sounding cliche once again, the true test of friendship is through honesty. Although at times I have fallen in the path of a friend's sharp tongue, after some self-evaluation, more times than not, they are justified. If they are mistaken, it's not my problem. I would hate to discover a "friend" was so immature that they hid their thoughts and opinions.

People, it's time to grow up. We can only spare individuals feelings for so long. Repress your brute candor during awkward times and should an advantageous occasion arise, banish it. It is one thing to be polite when offering your two cents, it is another to be deceptive.