Truth or...?

Here’s the problem with truth: you want to be truthful and hear the truth, but frankly most of us really can’t take it. So the issue becomes do you say what’s really on your mind, or do you sugar coat the words to spare someone’s feelings? 

Recently, the brutality of truth has reared its ugly head.  From the personal to the professional, I have found myself coming to terms with this beast and would like to say my squaring off has been successful, but that would be a bit of an untruth in and of itself.  While I have confronted it, I cannot say with any certainty that I have won any great battles.  The lines are still gray and quite blurred.  Why is it so impossible to say what needs to be said at the moment it needs saying? 

We go through life wanting desperately to tell the truth, to be told the truth and yet, we often find ourselves dancing around the obvious in order to avoid those uncomfortable situations – the ones that start “it’s not you, it’s me” or “you are great, but…”  We practice these lines over and over only to become immune to the little untruths that lie beneath.  But is it really our shortcoming or is it really our strength - the fact that although we know the truth will set us free, it is the harmless untruth that allows compassion and understanding for our fellow liar.