Benefit of the Doubt

I read a line recently that essentially said "...if you trust someone, you will give them the benefit of the doubt. But if you don't trust people, you will immediately think the worst."

You know those times in life that Oprah calls an "aha" moment - this was one of those moments. I realized my lack of trust towards a good friend and that there just may be another side to a situation. In fact, with this particular friend, I had created a whole story to support my theory about how they were out to hurt me. I used justifications, examples...you know, hard evidence showing how I was so hard done by. After reading that line about trust, I realized I never did fully trust them (well, for that matter, anyone). At that moment, a wise voice from within led me to call this friend and hear the story. As it turned out, the reasons for their actions and the reality of the situation were nowhere near my theory. In fact, their actions really had nothing to do with me. Not only an "aha" but a humbling moment.

Life Lesson #4543* - trusting people allows them the space to share their story. Their actions still may not be right or appropriate but perhaps understanding why they did it will save a friendship.

* random number because I feel like I am always learning something about life