How honest is honest?

I prefer truth.  My friends know this, I give it, demand it in return(even if it isnt what I want to hear).  But how honest is honest?  Do we tell our friends that we hate the dress they are wearing, that it makes them look old, fat whatever…when they seem excited about their “perfect find”.  Is there a tactful way to tell them?  Maybe. But is that really honest?  There’s been discussion on various topics that can get a little dicey sometimes, so where does one draw the line of being brutally honest without regard to others feeling in the “it’s truth”.  Sometimes I don’t give a damn..I wont be tactful with the truth..its just gonna come straight and lay you open…truth has to do that once in awhile.  It makes us let all the poison from the lies we feed ourselves and allow others to push down our throats to seep and flow out of our pores, cleansing us, cauterizing that wound and then making us whole.  Other times, I try and find a way to gently explain the truth to  one who is wounded already by the circumstances.  I don’t want to be the wind that deals the final blow to their straw house.  So when we tear down that house when someone is fragile in the name of honesty, are we being true to what is demanded of us?  We are human beings, given gifts to be used in the helping of others,,and our words can hurt or heal as much as what we do in our workings.  So how to draw the line…I tell people I am as I am…same online as off.  I can give you names of people who have either known me online for several years or know me in persona and they will back that up.  My sarcasm and smart ass mouth..yeah its a natural defense..and I often use it to tell the truth when its taken as a joke by others.  Less offensive that way I guess, but I am dead serious,lol.   I am less likely to say everything I feel with family..there are dynamics there that can cause a hell of a lot of drama and I don’t have time for that.    I’m not lying exactly, just walking a fine line between all out war and destruction of whatever is going on at the time.  I appreciate honesty, but not to the point that we degrade, demean others.  I guess that is why I try for tact most days..am not always successful, but hey I do remind people I am human and damn sure not perfect.  I don’t even come close to wearing that hat.  So is honesty knocking people off their feet?  Is it lifting them up and making them feel important?  I guess it can be both of those extremes, but I prefer a balance,  somewhere in between that speaks truth and yet leaves the other person with dignity.  I don’t pretend I know what others feel in their walk…as a reader of energies, I get a glimpse, but I don’t live their life.  So on those days when I speak something to you and you’re not crazy about how it was spoken..call me on it if you want..we’ll discuss it like adults, and see if we cant find a happy medium.  I’m a bitchy witch sometimes, and it may have come out a little harsher than I may have intended.  But it was true however it sounded ~shrugs~…and that one cannot fault me on.

PEACE OUT