I’ve written a couple of blogs about assuming and how I have to take a breath, and slow down whenever I see myself doing this, but the reality is that stopping is not the only solution because there is a righteousness veil within considering that ‘I know that what I’m seeing, perceiving, sensing is right’ as in ‘I have a right to keep assuming/thinking that this is really happening.’ Righteousness is one of those lockdown experiences and self-beliefs where we become tough-heads and don’t take a moment to question what is it that we are really defining as real, as truth, as ‘how things are,’ which is what usually leads to assuming and within that projecting onto others what we believe ‘they’ are going through, not realizing that we are in fact the source of such assumptions.
I have found it actually entertaining to see how is it that whatever I assume a person ‘is like’ becomes completely debunked once that I get to talk to them more or get to actually have a moment to see how they express and share themselves beyond just me seeing them ‘from afar’ so to speak. I had this recently with a couple of people that I had perceived that ‘they didn’t seem to like me that much’ just because they weren’t as ‘expressive’ or ‘friendly’ in my definition of how I express friendliness, also considered that when comparing them to others in their midst in terms of being talkative or interacting in a more extroverted way.
Though, once that I had an opportunity to actually talk to them, things were quite different and I got to see how they are simply a different kind of person – lol – in that they might not be a boisterous and sociable as others, they just like to share in a more calm, cool and collected manner, or have more specific conversations rather than relating to people in the midst of a group. In that I also realized how much I tend to from the get go still judge certain people based on just observing them, trying to ‘label’ them as a certain kind of person without having any actual moment of interaction, but more assessing ‘who they are’ for example in the context of a larger group of people, which at times can be limiting for certain people that feel more open and comfortable when being in one on one interactions, rather than on a casual/social context.
I’ve found that assumption comes as a desire to control, a desire to believe that ‘I know’ what I am dealing with when it comes to being with people or certain environments, certain activities, it’s like this ‘crutch’ that I believe I need in order to ‘know where I stand’ or ‘know what I’m dealing with.’ But, for the most part I’ve seen how this has fueled a lot of judgments towards others and it’s become a preposterous limitation because even when I am creating a seemingly ‘positive label’ towards another, then anything that they do that doesn’t match such assumption of ‘who they are’ within this ‘positive light’ I project upon them, then it creates a noise within me where I then tend to get disillusioned or disappointed about such person, without realizing that ‘Hey! I created these parameters, labels and definitions of ‘who they are’ as judgments all by myself! So, how can I be disappointed about someone’s actions or words based on me being the one that created such idea of ‘who they ‘entirely’ are’?
I’ve observed how assumption is born out of lack of actually communicating, interacting and understanding the person in any given moment or situation, which means at the same time that I am thinking more ‘up there’ in my head making conclusions about ‘who they are’ and ‘who am I’ in relation to them instead of actually getting to know a person, ask questions, establish communication wherein I can get to know and understand others better. I definitely enjoy asking questions, getting to know another, but this is not necessarily so easy to do with people you’ve just seen a couple of times or just met, which is where I see my inner experience towards them being rife with assumptions and a point that I have to remind myself next time I’m in the presence of people I’ve never been with in my life. I’ve also been realizing how much time it actually gets for some people to open up about things, and within that I have to understand that I might approach things in a more direct or immediate way, but not everyone’s like that.
I saw this with how one of these people I had assumed ‘didn’t like me as much’ opened up only after months of being around their midst, and completely turned around my prejudices only to show me and remind me how quick I am to jump into conclusions and project an idea I create – judge – others for and place them into these cookie cutter ideas that are only in my head… definitely relevant for me to remain present, to rather ask and be direct in my interactions and communication, while also considering the time it takes to develop such communication with others.
On another line of assumption, I’ve also seen how the negative assumptions I’ve created about someone’s experience or ‘state of being’ in a moment is definitely a cool mirror I can use for myself. An example is how I can assume that someone is irritated about something, that they are displeased or just not feeling as their usual ‘stable self’ and in that, I noticed I went into the experience of ‘there’s something bothering them, annoying them, they are not being their usual cool self so what’s bothering them?’ And the next step went into believing that it’s me/my presence that might be bothering them, or whether I did something wrong. That’s an example of a moment where I allowed myself to go into a reaction based on what I believed I was perceiving and let it fester for a some hours until I simply had to ‘let it out’ in the open and discuss it, but I missed taking the point back to self first to see how I am projecting my own self doubt, self-judgment or inadequacies onto another and believing ‘that’s their experience,’ when in fact it was entirely first of all related to something I had to look at within myself first.
Therefore there’s two things I am practicing to do: first, take the point back to self, seeing how I am reacting to Assuming someone else is reacting or experiencing themselves in a particular way or are a certain ‘kind of person.’. Say I react in insecurity when seeing someone feeling ‘off’ or ‘bothered’ or ‘annoyed’ – I have to first look at where am I actually feeling annoyed, off or bothered by seeing, perceiving a change in another and how I am then reacting to the assumptions I’m creating in my own mind, making me then go into an emotional experience about my assumptions, and that definitely doesn’t assist in actually getting to know what the source of this change is all about starting with myself.
Second point is to work with my assumptions, to see what is bothering me, what I feared losing, what I was desiring as an experience or outcome in something and that usually leads me to see where I become bothered or irritated myself, so that I can take responsibility for those expectations and calm myself down about it, which happens when I acknowledge my own experience as my own creation.
Third point is to actually communicate about it once I am settled and have worked through it within myself, even if it’s not in a thorough manner but once I can notice I’m more grounded and not ‘taken over’ by a reaction, I can ask the person if there’s something going on, if there’s a change in how they experience themselves, or simply share how I’m perceiving this/that experience in their voice tonality or in their presence.
Now doing this comes with being unconditional about it, not expecting to ratify what I was perceiving, not expecting the person to even open up entirely about the situation, but simply sharing and expressing what I was seeing and experiencing, maybe even share what I saw and how I worked with it myself and now simply opening up to see if there’s anything that the other person could reflect back on.
Being unconditional within communicating about things after I’ve cleared my own assumptions means also being OK and embracing if the person is actually going through reactions or experiences that they would rather not speak about or have to first deal with themselves. That’s part of me applying understanding in how I cannot expect someone to ‘share it all’ and ‘have it all sorted’ in one go – each one of us deals with experiences in different ways, and I have to embrace that, remind myself of that each time that I am even slightly expecting ‘another’ to say or do things a particular way that resembles ‘how I do things.’ That’s where within living the word understanding it means embracing and accepting different people in how they deal with their points, walk their lives and experiences.
Another aspect of understanding and being unconditional when communicating about points that were noticed, perceived or assumed about a person or situation is not taking it personal if another in fact is going through an experience based on a situation we are directly involved in – or something we did or say – it’s about placing myself in the shoes of another and be able to understand how these experiences can emerge in them, and use that to get to know them better, which is actually quite cool and supportive for me because I enjoy getting to know people at deeper levels, it’s just like that kind of nutritional value or richness that opens up when one is able to learn more about another at deeper levels, I thoroughly enjoy it even if that means that the person is actually having to go through some difficult points at times, I then get to know or understand more about them, and that’s very cool and something that can only unfold through communication.
A funny one is where I perceived one guy to be sort of timid or shy with playing an instrument, and kind of feeling uncertain to move too much – compared to how others do it – and yesterday I told him ‘hey! I noticed you are getting more loose and at ease with yourself, being more playful in your expression’ and he explained how he had always been that way, it’s just that the other instrument he was playing was too heavy for him to do that kind of stuff, so his movements were limited – but this time he was playing a lighter one so could move around with ease. Lol, again I had to laugh at my own assumption of ‘how the person is’ and not considering physical reality contexts that sometimes yes, limit one’s expression in very real ways.
Another example of assuming things and not considering physical reality limitations is when believing or perceiving that someone is in an emotional reaction and not really getting to know that they are in fact going through the initial stages of an illness or are in physical pain. So in my mind I went too far into making all kinds of ideas and theories as to why someone is seeming ‘off’ in a certain moment, yet not really asking about it directly to know more about what’s going on or what’s really ‘off’ in them? So in this case again, clarity and awareness of what’s really going on only happened through communication and go to know that yes, the person was having a low in their physical body, which is something I had not considered at all.
Of course this process of asking and getting to know more about what one is perceiving about something or someone in a situation is more plausible with closer relationships, but it can also be a way to get to know another more whenever we clearly notice there’s something going on with them, while also making sure that I’m clear in my starting point and being willing to assist now that I’m deciding to take that step further into opening up a point with another.
These are some of the recent examples I’ve faced when it comes to assuming and projecting onto others my own judgments or experiences, and overall it has become a humbling process that reminds me how I have to stop myself on my track whenever I am jumping into assuming what another is going through, and if I am close with the person then communicate about it, share, because that then leads to getting to know and so understand someone much better. But, there are also those times when I might not get as much ‘info’ on it, and that’s ok to, I have to also be considerate and so understanding if someone would not want to share all of their details and experience about something.
The word that comes up is how demanding or exigent I can become with ‘wanting to know’ all the details there are to something or someone’s experience, and that is also then like mind-thirst that I have to moderate, because as much as I can be naturally curious, I also sometimes go a bit overboard in asking people questions about themselves and their lives, and not everyone is open and willing to do that… I can try, but definitely have to also get to hear more who they are within what they are willing to share, rather than going straight into ‘deep stuff’ from the get go. This is a side point to assuming because I’ve also at times created ideas of ‘the life that someone has gone through’ which leads me to ask questions about themselves, their personal lives in order to verify ‘my assumptions’ and well, that’s not entirely cool if the other person is really not willing to ‘go there’ when it comes to sharing. To sum up: I have to step out of being an ‘analyst’ all the time and instead be more unconditional within the time and interactions I get to have with others!
So, the words that have assisted me to walk through this is understanding, both to understand my own reactions and experiences upon assuming something – and understanding another based on actually communicating what I am seeing, perceiving and within that debunking the myths and beliefs about it to then get to a solid ground of what’s really going on, which to me is an awesome thing to do, it creates clarity within reality, which to me leads me to stop theorizing too much about things, and stick to the facts,.
I also recommend checking out this recording released through Eqafe.com which may seem like not related to this at all, but it was actually supportive to hear how someone else is dealing with perceptions he can have about others in his life and how to ground them practically in reality, because of all of the reasons described above with approaching someone and opening up about something one might perceive they are going through or experiencing. So I can take that practical explanation to my process here with assumptions and perceptions as well, check it out! Developing Sensory Abilities – The Quantum Mechanics of Paranormal Events – Part 51
And Cerise also made a cool vlog about it which became a cross-reference to the points I’ve been looking at for quite some time now, so check it out as well Projecting Makes an Ass of Me
I’ll continue with the points that have been revealed about myself when going into these moments of assuming things, because that’s where there are some ‘ingrained fibers’ of my personalities and experiencing coming through that I definitely need to work with.
Thanks for reading 🙂
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