Fear

The truth is rarely pure and never simple.
~ Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest

Telling someone, for whom you care deeply, a hard truth is a scary thing.

Why?

Maybe I'm pretty sure they’re too emotionally fragile and won’t/can’t listen to or understand what I'm saying.

Maybe, telling someone that their self-destructive horseshit is dragging them (AND all their loved ones) through Hell is hard because, perhaps, they’ll slam the door on me. No one likes being kicked off the bus, Gus for the crime of caring enough to say “CUT THE SHIT!”

In the short term, walking away is an easier/less painful road for the offended offender. Confronting our own fears, fuck ups and assorted foibles takes some major bravery and no one’s got that goin' on 24/7 – especially not when we're 72 fathoms deep in a sea of despair.

It’s the better part of love to speak the truth, even when I feel I'm just shouting into the void. Afterward, I gotta be at peace with the truth-told person walking away.

Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don't resist them; that only creates sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.
~ Lao Tzu 

And, as Master Yoda said, "train yourself to let go of everything you fear to lose." WAY easier said than done.

The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off.
~ Joe Klaas, Twelve Steps to Happiness

Well, that’s for damn sure.

Bad things happen whether you're scared or not, so you might as well not bother being scared. It's a waste of time.
~ Louise Rozett, Confessions of an Angry Girl

Prepared, yes – scared? Trying not to be.

Is there anything more frightening than people?
~ Svetlana Alexievich, Voices from Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster

I’m staying inside as much as I can. I wear a mask when I go out for walks. I cross the street if I see anyone within a block of me. These are lonely days

As of 6 AM, 79,528 Americans have died from Trump the Incompetent’s Plague.

Maybe ever’body in the whole damn world is scared of each other.
~ John Steinbeck, Of Mice and Men

Fear is a Man's Best Friend – John Cale