Can you deal with tact and truth at the same time?
By careguarden
@careguarden (5670)
Philippines
September 14, 2009 11:10pm CST
It's very hard to be tactful and truthful at the same time. It is very difficult to say the truth without offending the person. Especially when you're angry, you can be truthful straight away and forget the virtue of tactfulness.
Like when a friend asked your opinion about her works, and you know how hard she/he labor just to make it, and you know that it is still not good. You don't want to tell a lie, but you don't want to hurt her/his feelings. So it's very difficult to be tact and truth at the same time. You need to think and be wise enough to come up with a good answer.
3 responses
@nanayangel (7879)
• Philippines
15 Sep 09
Hi there Care Guarden!Well, more often than not, it is really hard to tell the truth and use tact at the same time. The thing is that when a loved one is concerned, for example my close friends, I usually have to tell them the truth even though I know that they will get hurt in the process yet I'm pretty sure that if I don't tell them right away, it will hurt them even more. I guess we have to just tell them the truth and just be there for them when they get hurt in situations where truth and tact can't go together.
@careguarden (5670)
• Philippines
15 Sep 09
Yeah, there are some situations where truth and tact can't go on the same line. Like as you said, you need to tell the truth to your friends right away because if not they would be hurt even more. And yeah what's important is you'd never leave them the time they learned the truth.
Thanks for sharing with us and have a great day!
@spalladino (17891)
• United States
15 Sep 09
You need to balance honesty with caring and encouragement. If your friend has worked hard on something that still needs improvement you can start off by pointing out the good things and then suggest some additions or changes that might make it even better.
@careguarden (5670)
• Philippines
15 Sep 09
You're right, I could point the positive side of her work and give some suggestions for improvement. I just need enough time to take a good look on her work.
But most of time tact and truth are not compatible.
Thanks for sharing with us and have a great day!
@angel_rain (271)
• Philippines
16 Sep 09
In my line of work I have to do both.I don't want to offend people so every time I talk I have to be very careful and think before I open my mouth.It's kinda hard but the best thing is nobody will get mad at you.
