I am not a fan of confrontation. It is hard, and often extremely painful. There have been many times when I have gone out of my way to avoid any type of confrontation with anyone. In my mind, it is easier to be quiet than deal with the fallout.

Depression treatment has shown me the importance of speaking the truth. The reality is, keeping the truth to myself can lead to an innocent person being harmed, and/or extra hurt for the person that needs to hear the truth. It can also cause my relationships with other people to be stagnant, and unhealthy. Not to mention, we all lose an opportunity to learn something.

Sharing the truth with another person, is not just about opening my mouth, and spewing out everything they have ever done that bothers me. It is about approaching someone with love, humility, and caring. It should be done in such a way that it preserves the relationship, and the person. I need to be sincere, direct, kind, and responsible for my own feelings. I do not need to confront another person – and their problem – when I am exhausted, frustrated, angry, and checked out on the relationship.

I am not very skilled at confrontation, and this week – when I had to confront someone – proved it. Some one very dear to me needed to be confronted about some of her actions. In retrospect, I can clearly see that – while my intentions were the best – my delivery was awful. I need to work on that.

Learning to confront well – sharing the truth with others – takes practice, and patience.  Are you going to begin today? I am.