crazy making

My work is all about having the tough conversations. About lovingly and firmly showing people when and where they have the wrong end of the stick. About sticking the pin in the ego balloon. About staying firm so that they can have a melt down.

I almost can't do it. It is sooooo sooo hard and I find it crazy making. Besides all that, it's HARD to do, technique-wise.

What is going on in me that I can't have the hard conversations? What is going on in all of us that make hard conversations so tough? I've been following some threads in the blogosphere lately and the lack of dialogue is appalling. Worse, it is hurtful. I never want to hurt the people that I work with, but they are paying me a lot of money and I feel that it is imperative to let them know when they are going down the wrong path. The problem is, the path is so wide and some of it is valuable creative territory, so it's tough to know when to give the reality checks.

Sigh. It's so tough to know. How do you speak the truth in love when the truth is an amibigous thing (no, I'm not talking religious truth, I'm talking about decisions people need to make about their families and themselves)?