People can't read your mind. Being honest isn't just about telling people the truth about factual things, it's about sharing how you feel. If someone has hurt you in the past, they might not even know. Unless you decide to be open and honest with them, it's unreasonable to think that they'll have a clear understanding of what you're experiencing. Often we try to communicate our feelings through a mutual friend or by sending a cryptic message. This is rarely very effective, as you’ve probably seen.

Instead of skirting an issue or failing to share your feelings, think of some things that you can do to become more vulnerable, open, and honest the next time someone hurts you. Write some of those ideas below.

"Vulnerable, open, and honest after someone has wronged me??? I don't think so!" We've all felt this way. And who can blame us? What they can blame us for, however, is getting upset at the person that hurt us even though they might not even realize the extent to which they hurt you.

Write a 1-paragraph response to the ideas above. Do you agree or disagree? Share an example of when similar thoughts happened in your life.