"I hope you're not just telling me what you think I want to hear"

Right now I have almost finished reading a book called Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children by Ransom Riggs. It is about sixteen year old Jacob who discovers the "world" of "peculiar children" (children with strange abilities) which included his grandfather who was killed in the beginning of the story. After befriending many of these peculiar children and finding out that he is also a peculiar child, he is faced with challenges not only for his well being but for the entire existence of peculiars as well. What I'm writing about today is about a simple statement said by Jacob's psychiatrist when he questions the honesty of some of Jacob's words. My blog doesn't necessarily do with the situation of the piece of dialogue but more of what the words say.

The piece of dialogue that is also my title for this blog says “I hope you're not just telling me what you think I want to hear” and it made me think about how often I (and I’m sure many other people as well) actually do that. How often it is that I tell people things that are perhaps partially true but mostly fabricated from facts that I think the listener would want to hear. In my opinion it’s not a good thing to do but I don’t consider it a bad thing either.  Sometimes we hear about things and want to know more but the truth is that once you know something, you can’t forget it. Do we really always want to know what something may be even if it may hurt us?  I’m not sure what I would choose for sometimes, no matter how naive it may seem, the things that sound good to our ears are way better than what may not. Still, even with the potential harm that the truth may be, should people still try to tell it or give it a chance to be listened to?  

What I asked was an actual question and not a philosophical statement. I can’t choose, both for whether or not to give truths a chance or to tell them fully to others. As people, we have feelings but if they get in the way at times, should we dismiss them and say “GO FOR IT”? Maybe some of you might think so but for me, I would say not. My answer (or what is closest to an answer) for the question that I asked would be to accept our feelings and move on. Acknowledge that they may get hurt and then steel ourselves for what we need to hear.

Though I’m not sure that my answer is the best or good at all, I do believe that one cannot let their emotions get the better of them all the time.  What are your opinions or answers as to whether or not one should listen to the truth or stay safe but in the depths of the unknown? Please comment!