Truth Is.

There is a somewhat new craze on Facebook called Truth Is. It's very simple:
a person posts a status that says "truth is..." and then writes how they truly feel about anyone and everyone who 'likes' the status. Every night my news feed is pretty much flooded with Truth Is posts. I've actually enjoyed reading them. Some of the posts are general. People say they love someone, or how much they miss them and want to hang out. But other posts have been really deep and have really got me thinking. Why do we wait for invitations from Facebook to let people know how we really feel?

I was talking with Tyler sometime in April. It was five in the morning and we both had kind of helped each other through an emotionally rough night. He was about to go to bed, but I got a sudden nudge on my heart to tell him how I really felt about him, so I did. First I told him that I loved him, and then let him know that he was the most positive male influence in my life. When Tyler first learned where I would be going to college he told me that he lived right down the street if I ever needed him, and honestly, that statement alone made me feel more safe than I had felt since I was a child. And I told him that! From there the conversation got really, really sappy but it was truly wonderful. I feel comforted now knowing that when he died, he at least knew these things. And the last words we spoke to each other in person were, "I love you" and "I love you too."

I recently told this story to a coworker who had lost her husband to suicide a few years ago. I told her that I felt like the Holy Spirit prompted me to say those things to Tyler when I did because He knew what was going to happen in the near future. She then said something that I had not considered before. It was not just for Tyler, but for me as well. She asked if I felt guilty for leaving anything unsaid and I told her no, because I told Tyler everything I felt I needed to say that night. Then she asked how I would feel if I had never told Tyler how I felt. I would feel so, so, soooo incredibly terrible. But I don't, because I told Tyler the truth... without Facebook.

That's what I want to encourage everyone to do. People have this tendency to wait until they're sitting beside a grave to tell their loved ones how they truly feel. I've had this problem too with the exception of Tyler and a few others. If there is someone in your life who you love, respect, or admire, why not tell them now? Words of affirmation are always encouraging, so what are we waiting for? Life is short, and it's not always going to wait as long as we do. Believe me.

Some of the Truth Is posts I've read on Facebook have dealt with serious matters too. I read one where one friend thanked another for calling them out and telling them that they needed to step it up as a leader. Blunt truths  like that can be hard to take at first, and they need to be delivered with care and sensitivity, but I think they need to be delivered just as often as words of affirmation.

That's all I have to say, really.