Whew, this list of thankfuls includes a lot of heavy topics! I'm thankful today for the past mistake that taught me how important it is to tell the truth. By nature, I'm a people pleaser. It's always easier for me to tell people what they want to hear, or what will make the moment easier, or what will spare someone's feelings. This isn't always bad - it's good to use tact, to refrain from saying needlessly hurtful things, and to encourage and build people up when the thing you're saying is true.
But it IS bad when you justify lying, which can be a big or small lie, a lie of omission, or a lie that allows a false implication to stand. The past mistake I'm specifically thinking of is when I broke up with a boyfriend and said it was because of an issue that we disagreed about. It was true that we disagreed about this issue, and that the issue was important to me - but there were dozens of reasons to break up, and this wasn't the main thing - it just seemed like the least hurtful way to end it. The problem was, I started dating someone a few months later who also disagreed with me about this same issue. The first boyfriend found out about it and it led to a nasty interaction between the two of us (which I fully deserved) and more hurt feelings for both of us.
I'm grateful for this because, as much as I wish it wouldn't have happened, it's a reference point in my head every time I'm tempted to take the easy but not fully true way out of a hard conversation. It reminds me that half truths are also half lies and will likely come back to bite me and hurt the other person in the long run.
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