M: I was once asked to “lay down our cards on the table.” I figured it had nothing to do with gambling but about coming clean with what was really going on. Honesty is the best policy. The truth hurts and truthfully, sometimes we cannot handle the truth. I learned something after that card-laying incident. First: never ask a question that you’re not prepared to hear the answer to. And second: if you don’t like what you hear, don’t take it personally.
DJ: Truth is not always an easy pill to swallow. That’s why some of us hide what we truly think or feel. A lot of the pain really stems from the ego that desires to have only what it wants and how it wants it.
M: When people have “heart to heart” talks, these open the possibility for many things to be revealed. These can also bring about closure or the end of a relationship. There are said to be some things to consider before a commitment talk. Timing for one. Don’t have it during an argument or when you’re feeling hurt or angry about something else. Hearing and accepting the truth also depends on when and how you say it, and how the other perceives it.
DJ: After all that I have been through these past years, I’m learning that love is indeed more of a decision and less of a feeling. Keeping a relationship whole requires more than just a concept of being in a relationship. It’s an everyday decision to see that a flawed person is capable of doing great things. The key is still discernment. Because we’ve been through a lot as adults, we fail to consider honesty and truthfulness as important parts of the equation.
M: Life is fragile. Let’s consider the thoughts that we think, the words that we speak, and the acts that we do. Someone once said they had never heard anyone on his deathbed say that he wished he had made more money in his lifetime or he wished he had made a certain deal. Usually it is something like, “I wish I told my loved ones how much I appreciate them” or “how I wish I took more risks.” If it takes laying down the cards on the table to do that, then lay them on. Say it now or forever hold your peace.