How Passing a Knife Can Teach You How to Handle the Truth
Here comes our old friend fear again. Have you noticed that sometimes when you want to say something, you try to wrap it up inside a long introduction as if it was a fragile antique book or vase that you need to handle with special gloves?
We often forget that truth is solid and sharp, like a knife. Wrapping it up hides what it is about. I’ve observed that when I try to prepare my listener for the truth with a long introduction, I lose him or her. Then when my point comes, they don’t get it. I get an impression that they’ve disagreed with or rejected me. Only after a lengthy clarification, do we find out that we were of the same opinion or that what I wanted to say resonated with them.
Of course, we need to be attentive to the way we present our truth to others so that it doesn’t offend them. But we don’t have to wrap it up in something thick and cumbersome in order for someone to get it. If we do, they might go right on by without noticing anything.
Let’s go back to the analogy of a knife. If somebody asks you to pass them a knife, you will surely take care that the sharp side doesn’t face their hand when they take it. At the same time, I am sure that you wouldn’t pack the knife into a thick roll of paper, or those plastic wrappings with thousands of tiny airpockets, before handing it over.
From Cheerleading for Writers: Discover How Truly Talented You Are.
