Why is it so easy to make assumptions about other people? One part of the answer is that we are too busy using information from the past or guessing about the future to seek the truth in the present.
While it is helpful to learn from the past and helpful to plan for the future, if we spend too much of our time in one or both, we end up missing what is happening right before our eyes. If you've ever felt duped, misguided or taken advantage of it may have been avoided by checking what you have assumed about a particular person or situation.
If something doesn't seem right about a situation, one option is to leave, to avoid it all together. However, that is not always possible and sometimes avoiding is not the best thing to do as it stalls or derails our long term goals. I will talk more about that in later blogs. The only power you have over the future is what you do in the single present moment currently right in front of you.
Other reasons we might make assumptions is that we have over-active imaginations or wishful thinking. The problem with making assumptions is that, more often than not, we are wrong.