“Frankness invites frankness.”
(Ralph Waldo Emerson)

How many times have you blown up at your spouse, or child, or coworker, because you finally said what you should have stated weeks or months ago?

We’ve all done it. We get hurt, or upset, or scared by someone’s behavior, but we bite our tongue, hoping it will go away and get better on its own. That way we can avoid the discomfort of disturbing the peace.

What we fail to remember is that the other person has already disturbed our peace.

When the behavior continues, and continues, our ability to hold it in erodes and then we explode. This usually doesn’t make things better, however, because the other person hears the tone of our blowup more than the message of our statement.

So, go ahead, be frank with your partner, or your child, or your coworker. Say what you need to say, with your calmest tone, so at least you’ve got a chance of being heard.

Peace begins with pause,