The Stories We Tell Ourselves: Why Assumptions Are the Real Problem
The Stories We Tell Ourselves: Why Assumptions Are the Real Problem Have you ever been upset by something, only to find out later that you completely misunderstood the situation? You felt ignored—but they were dealing with a family emergency. You felt disrespected—but they were actually trying to pay you a compliment that came out wrong. You felt excluded—but the invitation simply got lost in the chaos of life. Sometimes the problem is not what happened—but what we assumed happened. The Mind's Shortcut Our brains are wired for efficiency. When we encounter a situation with missing information, we fill in the blanks automatically. We create a story that makes sense of the discomfort. The problem? The story is usually wrong. And worse, it is usually negative. We assume the worst intentions because, on some level, it feels like protecting ourselves. But this "protection" comes at a cost. It builds walls where bridges could have stood. The Three-Step Antidote The next time yo...