When a friend calls you out, it means they think you’re worth the awkward conversation.

Telling you the awkward thing costs a friend something. It is easier to stay quiet and let you carry on, so the fact that they spoke means they decided the friendship could take it. That is closer to respect than to attack. The people who tell you nothing are not necessarily the ones who like you most.

If someone close said something that stung lately, go back and ask what they meant, with no defense attached. Thank them for saying it, even if you end up disagreeing. Being someone who can hear it is how you keep the ones who will say it.