But I cannot tell you how many times I ultimately regret doing that. Letting that person walk away feeling bigger than me or thinking they one-uped me only because I didn't speak up.
Well, I would like to have just one day where I say exactly what I'm thinking, good or bad. No lies. No silence. No holding back. Just saying it like it is.
Like myself, I think many people don't do this because they don't want to ruffle any feathers or offend someone. There's a chance of hurting someone's feelings so badly you could lose a friend or relationship over choice words. Maybe I would lose some friends or hurt some feelings, but I've let many people do the same to me without ever standing up for myself.
Being the oldest of four siblings, I've just been very protective of my family and friends. Some would even say a "mama bear" when it comes to protecting my loved ones. But for whatever reason, I haven't done the same for myself.
I'll take the wrath for a family member or friend, but not myself? I think that's something I need to change. I do believe I've gotten a little better at it, and maybe simply saying anything that comes to mind isn't the best remedy, but I'm not a weak person and I shouldn't let other's put me down and get away with it.
The ability to say exactly what you're thinking takes some serious balls. It takes simply not caring what other people think of you. It takes being ok with being called a bitch. It also takes being able to take it like you dish it. But being able to say whatever you want also puts you in the position of having the people around you know exactly what you feel and they know exactly where they stand with you.
If everyone walked around saying exactly what they thought when they thought it, maybe we wouldn't be so sensitive to it. We wouldn't be so shocked to hear it. And it would be a lot easier to do it ourselves.
But maybe we'd be walking around saying "you're stupid" or "I love you" to everyone all of the time. I suppose this is where the idea of moderation would come into play.
It takes a strong and confident (or just pissed off) person to say exactly what they are thinking. Maybe we should all just start faking that strength and confidence to speak up to the point where we realize it wasn't as hard to do as we originally thought.
xoxo Nickie