To be direct or not to be direct....

That is the question I have been asking myself lately.

I always pride myself on being a straightforward and direct individual. I try to minimize BS and get straight to the point with things. I am like that at work as well as with my friends. My thought is that spending time on BS is wasting valuable energy. I get this from my mom. With her it's always cards on the table and you always know where you stand with her. I do have to say that sometimes it can be hard. Sometimes you don't want to know exactly what she is thinking. Sometimes I wish she would keep things to herself.

Through the years I have learned that sometimes people don't want to hear it from me. Or that sometimes people don't know how to take me....especially at work. I realize that being direct can sometimes be misconstrued as having an agenda or be off-putting. I have learned that people are just more sensitive then others, and can't handle directness well. I have been in situations where people get upset because I can be too forthright. Or most recently, piss a friend off because I am not being direct enough. 

So it's a balancing act that I have to always keep in mind. I realize that some of my best relationships (both at work and personal) are those where the other person gets passed it and learns to appreciate the fact that I will always call it how it is.

So, I continue to learn everyday about myself and about others. I guess the lesson learned is that I should be myself as best as possible and hope that people will know I am coming from a good place.