One of the hardest things for me is to make a decision I know is going to cause someone else pain and hurt. On one hand I’d like to be able to do it without feeling such pain myself, but on the other, I don’t want to become cold and selfish.
Does being able to make choices in self-interest necessarily make one selfish? Where is the line between healthy selfishness and unhealthy selflessness? Does being sympathetic to the pain I’m causing relieve me of any of the burden at all? Would I be more selfish if I felt less sorry for causing pain?
Sometimes it’s just easier to sweep the feelings under the rug and forget about them. And I guess that works for a while. Until you start tripping over the lump of dirt under the rug.
With me, there aren’t any qualifiers that help. Being truthful with someone, when you know what you are telling them is hurting them, is just really, really hard.
In the end, after much thought on this subject, I’ve concluded that I’m only responsible for my truth, not for anyone’s reception of it. We don’t even have to agree on what the ‘truth’ is.
