Often we judge people and situations, jumping to conclusions that may not necessarily be the right ones. Over time we realise that we may have been better off had we found it in ourselves to give the benefit of the doubt. It would serve us well to pause before coming to a definite conclusion because there may several factors unknown to us.

We must make room for the fact that our own way of looking at a situation may not be the right one and we may actually be the one at fault. When someone takes an opposing point of view, we need to give them benefit of the doubt, and we probably need to first re-examine our own position.

It is quite possible we may have overlooked things before arriving at a decision. When we give benefit of the doubt that we may not have the complete picture, it opens up our mind to going deeper and better understanding underlying factors.

Often someone’s behaviour may not convey their true intent and not everyone is good at expressing what they are feeling. It is easy to misunderstand someone if we only stop at evaluating their behaviour. When we give benefit of the doubt, we leave room for the fact that there may be more than meets the eye, allowing us to better understand the emotions and intent behind what we are witnessing.

Different people understand the same thing differently. We have all probably been victims of misunderstandings because we did not give the benefit of the doubt and did not seek to better understand or clarify things before judging.

Hearsay can be the worst enemy of relationships. Not only do we let down those who trust us, we let ourselves down because we know we are capable of much better. We may have reason to believe what we have heard, but we must give the benefit of doubt and reconfirm things for ourselves before quickly jumping to a conclusion.

People change, and just because we may have had a prior experience with someone, it should not stop us from leaving room for the fact that they may have changed.

When we give benefit of the doubt, we not only start understanding people and situations better because of our willingness to explore more, we protect ourselves and others from getting hurt because we may have been too hasty. And so often when we stand corrected, we silently feel relieved we weren’t too quick in forming an opinion.

If ever we find ourselves unsure about a situation, and deep down we think differently from what most others around us may be saying, there is no doubt about what the right thing for us to do is; we need to find it in ourselves to start by giving benefit of the doubt.

(Picture-Street in Paris)