Honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom.

In the last week alone, I have been accused of being rather blunt aggressive & tactless". Which if those are the only things on my rap sheet, I take a bow!

Tact
a keen sense of what to do or say in order to maintain good relations with others or avoid offense. 

If it is a choice between ALLOWING SOMEONE TO WALLOW IN A VICE or MAINTAINING GOOD RELATIONS, I choose the former over the latter. Being friends doesn't mean a life of roses and sunshine. Sometimes being friends means that we'll have to tell each other things that we don't want to hear: Those things we don't want to hear may include personal failures or tough advice. I L♥ve you and I want to see you act like the awesome person I know you are; I want to see you live up to your full potential and steadily improve! I would hope that if you see something lacking in me, you would point it out.

For example, if Kobe Bryant stepped onto the court and played as if he'd never even seen a basketball in his life, the crowd will not applaud, the coach will not pat him on the back, his team will not lift him to their shoulders in an effort to "maintain good relations".

BLUNT
being straight to the point.

I hate when people dance around what they want to say, so I don't do it. You won't catch meavoiding or evading the TRUTH. Anyone who knows me, knows me as a CANDID person, but my candor is not mean spirited. I only want to build others up, not tear them down. When someone is not "blunt" he/or she is APPROACHING THE TRUTH not actually SPEAKING THE TRUTH; their speech is evasive and circumvents the issue. This person speaks with insincerity. Someone called me "aggressive" yesterday because I asked him what he wanted from me. If I want to know something I will ask you, I don't assume anything or dance around the issue. I don't play games and I think life would go a lot smoother if people would be blunt. I feel like people who play games and dance around the truth are insecure. This will sound naive to most, but when I'm someone's friend I trust that we are really friends and nothing will come between us; I know this is not always the case but I live my life as if it is, true. But in the case that it is that easy to drive a wedge between us I'd rather know sooner than later. Furthermore, I'd prefer you to become a better person and know your vices than remain my friend and not live up to your full potential.

AGGRESSION

hostile behavior or outlook especially when caused by frustration

So all I asked the guy was what he wanted from me and what makes him different. I can't say if those questions or my tone were "hostile" (having an offensive nature), even if they were, the questions were pretty simple. But he doesn't want to be honest, he wants to play games...He actually said outloud "I try to be as honest as possible", so there was my answer...

L♥ve rejoices in the TRUTH (1 Corinthians 13:6)...the TRUTH sets you free (John 8:32) I don't conceal the TRUTH! (Psalm 40:10)

I'd love for you to speak on this issue!

Closed Mouths Don't Get Fed

I started a conversation with my mom about how I always ask questions. Recently in self-examining I noticed that not only do I ask a lot of questions, but oftentimes when I do people become aggravated. My mom recalled this scenario:

A person says “I hate this show” & I respond “oh what show”. The person could not tell me the name of the show, anything about the show, or what he/she doesn’t like about the show. In my opinion a person should be able to explain his/her feelings.

Then my mom said, “He was just trying to make conversation.” She continues to suggest that I not ask people questions and just say “oh really”. But if I just say “oh really” then what would be the point of having a conversation? She had no answer. So then I said to her, maybe I should lie & say, “me neither”. Maybe I should disregard the comment, and proceed to discuss shows I don’t like.

I basically decided to take my own advice: When I used to teach, one of the first things I told my students was, “Closed mouths don’t get fed. Please don’t be afraid to ask questions.”

One of my good friends said that I “always make [her] think about things [she] never really gave any thought to before whether [she] replies or not. So [she] really appreciates it”.

I have decided that there is nothing wrong with me asking questions but there is a huge problem with not being able to explain your feelings. I’m not saying that anyone owes me an explanation, but I think everyone owes an explanation to him/herself.