How to Quiet Your Inner Assumption Lawyer

Do you have an inner lawyer struggling to win every case presented by a negative assumption? I'll bet that affects your time, energy, and relationships!Our daily lives are made up of assumptions. Most of these are helpful—such as assuming the water will come out of the faucet when I turn on my shower. However, assumptions often wrongly color the way we view people and our interactions with them.

Negative assumptions will get you in trouble

Assumptions cause us to draw conclusions without adequate data. Have you ever had an argument in your head with someone without even knowing for sure that the person believed the viewpoint you are arguing against? I have.Email is the worst—I can’t hear a person’s tone of voice or see a raised eyebrow when reading a digital note. I can read all sorts of negative things into an email, and one little typed paragraph can be misinterpreted.To top it off, many of us tend to assume the worst rather than the best about a person or a situation. I usually think in negative directions when I make assumptions. It’s easy. I was not born with the “positive assuming” gene. It’s not in my DNA. I was raised by a lawyer and everything is automatically challenged or assumed to be negative.

Positive assumptions will keep you out of trouble

Therefore, #8 on my 2011 New Year’s resolution’s list reads: “If you must make assumptions, always assume the best of another. Whether your assumption is true or not, it makes for better communication (see Philippians 4:8).”This is not simple. It requires that I take my self-editing skills as a writer and apply them to the conversations that take place in my head.So, how much of your life is colored by presumptions? Any tips for avoiding the inner lawyer struggling to win every case presented by a negative assumption? Please share your wisdom in the comment section below.

In Him together, Susan Gaddis