Right now you are trapped in your home with the people that you love. You are a fraction of an inch from killing some of them. But you love them! You’ve probably noticed as you are spending time with these people… so much time… so very much time... that you do not agree on everything.
In fact you are finding that there seems to be a gap between what you expect from them and what you experience with them. For example, your expectation is when someone changes out a roll of toilet paper in your house they install it with the paper hanging over the roll (like any sane person would). Quite simply this is because it is an abomination to install the roll with the paper hanging under. In addition, if you are reaching for the toilet paper with any level of enthusiasm (I won’t go into detail here) you are much more likely to injure your hand if the toilet paper is hanging at the back of the roll.
So your expectation is that when you reach for the toilet paper it will be hanging over the roll. But what if someone installed it UNDER?!!!!! There is now a gap between your expectation and your experience. What will you put in that gap? Will you put in suspicion and assume the worst ("they probably did it because they don’t care about me or about what matters to me") or will you give them the benefit of the doubt ("maybe they hadn’t taken their medication when they installed the toilet paper")?
You may have heard of 1 Corinthians Chapter 13 (in The Bible). Many of you have heard it read at weddings. There is a phrase in this chapter that says “love believes all things, love hopes all things.” This doesn’t mean that you blindly accept everything everyone says as true. It means that when there is a gap between what you expected and what you experienced you give the person the benefit of the doubt until proven different. Speak with the person directly. Ask questions to understand (rather than accuse) and work toward a solution that is in everyone’s mutual interest. But always begin with assuming the best. If you do, you’ll enjoy people more and be irritated with them less. And you’ll increase your lead.
Try the principle below this week and comment on how it went. You could win some great FREE STUFF if you are picked as the #JustDidIt winner of the week!
🏃 I gave someone the benefit of the doubt when there was a gap between what I expected and what I experienced.🏃♀️
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