Emotions can make us so emotional. That’s especially so when they’ve been caught off guard, dealt a blow, had the rug pulled from up under, snuck up on, or as we used to say on 19^th Street SW in Birmingham, Alabama’s West End, when someone has decided to “bust a cag” on our feelings. There’s nothing like a bruised ego, a bit of devastated pride, or some wounded notions to trigger the two-year-old baby in the best of us.

I, for one, have had the wind kicked out of my emotions too many times to type. Looking back, I can chuckle now as I think of most of my 20s being a perfect picture of “emotions run amuck”. (Thank you to all the friends and family who hung in there with me during this time of, shall we say, growth. Thank you to the creator of social media for waiting until I grew up before opening up the world to the madness which emotions often usher in…LOL!) Anywho, from revelations about so-called relationships, notice of issues with friends, hints of trouble on jobs, news about family, details about my health or simply sage advice on horrible hair and wardrobe choices, most times, the truth I was served seemed devastating and at the time appeared to be to my detriment. Usually it ended up turning out to be the best or worked to move be toward better. Others times, there were times where the truth, with all of it’s stench and sting, was the absolute best medicine, right then and there for what ailed me.

Still, who in their right mind readily welcomes the truth straight, no chaser knowing that the cold, hard truth can often be like taking two of your great-grandmother’s extra-large sized tablespoons of cod liver oil without a dash of honey or strong Coca-Cola to back it up? Some of the best truth, like cod liver oil, will make you want to gag, before making you get better. But it will make you get better. Can you handle it?

I want to grow more to embrace the truth, to welcome it even. I want to surround myself with people who love me, see me and aren’t afraid to say what helps me, AND be in the proper position to allow them to do that. I want to be able to ask others “what do you think of me”, “what can I do differently”, “what do I need to do better”, “do you really like this dress”, “am I a good friend”, “what do you really think of this relationship”, and so on and so on. I want to be big girl enough to boldly tell a friend, a colleague, a family member or whomever has my best interest at heart to “give it to me straight”. And like a big girl I want to be able to hear it, heed it and keep it moving without getting caught up in emotions.

@AngelaMMoore316