04/10/2026
Have you ever assumed you knew what someone else was thinking?🧠
Maybe you’ve thought:
“They don’t care.”
“They’re doing this on purpose.”
“They must be angry with me.”
But how often do we actually know what is going on inside another person’s mind?
Mentalization is our ability to understand our own and other people’s thoughts, feelings and intentions while remembering that we can never know someone else’s mind with 100% certainty.
When we become stressed, anxious, rejected, ashamed or emotionally overwhelmed, this ability can temporarily become weaker.
Instead of thinking:
“I wonder what’s going on?”
we may jump straight to:
“I know why they’re doing this.”
The feeling is real. But the interpretation may not be.
I struggled a lot with this when I was younger. I could easily interpret other people’s actions, silence or reactions and assume I knew what they meant.
Today, I try to do something different.
When I notice myself making assumptions, I pause and ask questions instead:
“What did you mean by that?”
“Is something going on?”
“I interpreted it this way is that what you meant?”
That way, I can get the facts instead of building a whole story around an assumption.
I’ve learned that clear and direct communication can prevent so many unnecessary misunderstandings. It doesn’t mean I never misinterpret things or get emotionally triggered it means I try to stay curious rather than certain about what is happening in someone else’s mind.
Instead of:
“I know why they did this.”
I try to think:
“I wonder why they did this. I can ask.”
That small pause between assuming and asking can change an entire interaction. 🧠🌱
