I’ve recently found it harder to speak my mind without offending someone else, or having them believe they are being targeted personally. I’m really struggling with this because I always try to think about what I’m saying. Especially when phrasing my words in ways that will actually convey what I would like them to.
I’m the type of individual that will always say what is on my mind, independent of who I am talking to. I will rarely hold back an opinion, only if it may seem offensive, but otherwise I will express what I’m thinking. I’ve started to rethink that simply because I believe that honesty is the foundation of all my relationships that I have maybe overstepped at times. My thought process was always that if I’m comfortable with being honest about how I feel, that those around me will also feel that they can share their true feelings with me.
However, I find myself trapped in my own perspective and forget the other side of the story. That other people have other experiences with honesty and how they handle that. Some might struggle with taking things personally, and I realized that is partly my job to make sure that those around me are not being negatively affected by my words. Recognizing this, I’m really not sure how to proceed because I have thought I have tried to make sure that I come across clearly and I’m not sure how to make myself even clearer, especially when it comes to constructive criticism versus personally attacking people.
I definitely recognize that I have my own flaws and that life is an ongoing learning process, but at this point, I’m not sure what the next step is. Recently, I was trying to convey my disappointment with the lack of commitment, and while expressing myself to an entire group of people, a specific individual thought I was targeting them specifically. Maybe they recognized their lack of effort and wanted to defend themselves, or thought I was speaking solely about them, but there was a complete disregard for how carefully I tried to phrase myself so that it applied to the vast majority.
Anyways, I’ll continue to try to improve myself as an individual and become more aware of my surroundings. Keeping in mind that my experiences are not always the same as those around me and that I cannot expect them to see things the way I see them. I’ve learned a lot, and still think there is much more to learn, and I’m excited/nervous/anxious to see where this road will take me.