“Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won’t come in.” Isaac Asimov
“They have the unique ability to listen to one story and understand another.” Pandora Poikilos
“Don’t build roadblocks out of assumptions.” Lori Myers
“Life is a series of events and sensations. Everything else is interpretation. Much is lost in translation and added in assumption / projection” Rasheed Ogunlaru
How sure we all are of what is the hidden truth behind everyone’s motives and frustrations. We think we know why a person said what they said and did what they did. At least that is what we assume. Nobody lets us in on the secret that we assume too much, and most of the time, if not all of the time we are wrong. I say this with belief in what I know to be the reality beneath our facades.
Everything doesn’t involve me
At a function, if I approach a couple of people who appear to be laughing but then stop when I approach, I am sure they are not likely fond of me. It is as if I have ruined their good time and exchange. If I could leave it there it would be okay but this is not the case. I dwell on the event throughout the night and observe them for more signals of their lack of interest in me. I realize everything doesn’t involve me but that is why I sense others are not impressed with me so my confidence is shaken and I become quiet and start taking in the behaviors of others present. The more I see the more I begin attributing connotations for the words and actions of others. Of course, my confidence is at an all-time low.
It can be so devastating to the point of leaving the function with total insecurity. Of course the next day one of the two people may call me and begin stating their regret for having little time to spend with me. I begin thinking they are reading my mind. Of course I appreciate the basic apology and am happy to discuss the events of the previous day. Now it is the two of us discussing the events and that other person is on the outside.
Our feelings get hurt
Now I feel special, worthy and I realize I was mistaken in the belief that I was ignored and not liked. Now that I am older and have spent years observing and contemplating such situations, I comprehend how easily we are led astray in believing in our worthlessness. Another notion occurred to me. We are extremely fragile people. I suppose that must be why we fight and argue so much. Our feelings get hurt and we can’t even explain why so we hide away until someone comes to our rescue.
Our next step is to desert those who we perceive as having hurt us for those who came to our rescue. One can see we change friends like we switch our clothes. We perhaps might get around to the same set of clothes just as we do a turn around with our friends. I guess we are a people who never truly trust in each other. If we really had faith in each other we would know without having to prove anything that we mean something to others especially those we love.
How good are our assumptions?
Do we still love those who we think offended us or do we stop loving them? If we stop then we must question if we ever really loved at all. We search for the fault in others yet we are the ones making the assumptions, drawing conclusions from these assumptions, and basing our decisions on what we see as the reality of our situation. Do we ever ask ourselves how good are our assumptions? How much faith can we have in any of them? Are we willing to toss over a marriage a link to our kids, our sibling relationships, and friendships on assumptions?
As serious as these questions are the answers are sad. Most of us do make decisions without having real facts or reasons. Much of our illusions are fabricated. Our minds run the reel and the movie begins with us playing the lead role, being damaged in some way, and retreating for cover. Those who have pained us are cut from our lives. One has to agree that this will make the relationship difficult to maintain. If we choose to believe in the hurtfulness of another then it is easy to understand why we want to severe the connection.
Remember the happy times
I for one have trouble with severing. As angry as I get I begin to remember the happy times I spent with others and then I question why someone would now dislike me. I change my mind about the cutting but I am still wary of this person who has now lost some of my faith. I find this sad. I might be the one causing the dilemma. Perhaps this person was never ever considering me in any way and here I have assumed they wanted me out of the circle.
Most of us let our feelings rule our minds. In such instances and without any breaks we go over the bridge. Now I put such thoughts to the back of the mind and leave them there unless of course similar happenings cause me to bring them forward again at a future date. Man is so fragile. Those among us who are self-assured are still at risk of sabotaging our sense of self. All that is required is suppositions.
Children always assume mom or dad loves a sibling more than them. Parents don’t have the time to perhaps even consider such a notion. They are to busy working and caring for the kids. Parents sense a feeling of loss when kids marry. They believe they are not loved as much because they don’t have the same time or access to their children. Adult kids likely love their parents more but are leading their own lives and without the time to handhold and explain their feelings. This is almost impossible to do.
People like to talk
Siblings are so close to each other even if they are at odds with one another. They are closely bonded yet the quickest to be estranged. The jealousy over parental love and support is tremendous. Siblings compete throughout their lives and most parents don’t even take notice. No one talks about it so the conjectures continue and the truth is hidden. Friends engage in all sorts of rivalry for money positions and jobs. They help each other but also like to outperform each other. People like to talk and anyone who is missing the discussions might likely be the topic of the discussions. When someone is absent they run the risk of being targeted.
Mothers-in-law assume their daughters-in-law are attempting to steal their sons away. Daughters-in-law assume their mothers-in-law want to control them and their husbands. No one gets the fact that nobody wants to be left out of this mix and all are bound by love for the other. Playing fields change but love always remains.
We lose it if we hold on too tightly
I am not suggesting we are mean and vicious. I believe we are opportunists and when the time approaches us to get closer with someone we care about we take the opportunity. It feels like we have enclosed ourselves in a tight circle and we sense the love and belonging. It brings such comfort. We don’t want anyone near it because we cherish it and want it all to ourselves. In the end, we lose it if we hold on too tightly and make the conditions too difficult to abide by.
So in all of this, I believe we all desperately want love. When we have it we fear losing it. We panic and worry so much that we assume too much and begin to believe false accusations about family and friends. Likely marriages fail due to jealousy and competition. Other relationships break from too much tension. One answer might be to accept everyone into our sphere of love which will render no one alone and lost.
Fear of losing love
Maybe our fear of losing love is the reason for many transgressions. Some might lie because they believe the truth about themselves will not make them worthy enough. Some steal to enhance their lives which don’t appear to measure up. Some are jealous because they have no confidence in their own value. Even marriages are threatened when we can’t believe we are good enough to maintain the love for each other. Believing there is always someone better around the corner gives us little time to enjoy and praise what we have.
If we could ever read each other’s mind we would be so surprised at what each one of us was actually thinking about when we are being accused of so many other wild ideas. A young woman is thinking if she is actually pregnant because she is late and so anxious to have a baby. She is a bit testy with worry and tense from her lost thoughts of wonder. A young man is trying to impress his new wife and her family by doing it all. He is becoming overwhelmed in the process and angry at them all who he perceives as being impossible to please. The truth is he is placing the burdens on his own shoulders.
Of course, the in-laws are thinking wow, what a nice guy she married. He is trying to do everything. How impressive he is. The mother-in-law is thinking I must look stupid because I ask dumb questions only because I don’t want to insult my daughter-in-law or do anything she doesn’t want me to do for the baby. The daughter-in-law is reflecting, how can my mother-in-law not know what to do? She raised kids why is she appearing so stupid? The wife is believing my husband has spent so much time talking with that woman. I bet she is listening to his work stories and I always have no time to do that. The husband is actually thinking, I wish she would stop asking so many questions. I don’t even know why this woman is so interested in my work and my wife has already given me the evil eye. The young woman might be thinking, I hope my boyfriend is observing how easily I can control a man’s attention. If he isn’t nicer to me I could leave him.
Trust is important
Trust is important in any relationship. Faith in who and what we are is paramount. By stopping our ruminating over what others think and feel gives us more time to enjoy the moment. So many moments are lost in needless worry about losing love. It seems like it is important to love during the moment and don’t let the time be wasted. What is crucially important is to love ourselves, because we all appear to be having trouble loving ourselves. By observing our own merit keeps the filter system going so we won’t let our confidence seep out with our wrongful conjectures. We will save our loves, bonds, and moments of enjoyment that could have turned into nightmares of our own creation.
“When dealing with critics always remember this: Critics judge things based on what is outside of their content of understanding.” Shannon Alder
“We never look beyond our assumptions and what’s worse, we have given up trying to meet others; we just meet ourselves.” Muriel Barbery
“Problems don’t actually exist. They’re just the hallucinogenic effects of people being weirded out on what they think life is supposed to be.” Richelle E. Goodrich
