There's an old saying about the word "assume." As in, it has a way of making an a.... well, you know.

Assumptions of bad faith are particularly dangerous. I've learned that this often comes at the hand of miscommunication or non-direct communication, and can establish walls between between people that can be difficult to remove, especially if the bad faith itself is never communicated. When assumptions of bad faith happen between close friends, it can be even trickier because it hurts the trust level that is so vital to any kind of healthy relationship.

That's why there has been an incredible invention of mankind called the "benefit of the doubt" (BOTD). The BOTD is certainly not the solution, but serves as an optimistic holding mechanism until the issue can be directly addressed. This generally works in the favor of both parties because I have found that, despite the amount of ill will in the world, people are mostly good to each other and a majority of occurrences that seem to indicate otherwise are simply the result of, as I said earlier, miscommunication or non-communication.

So, I commit to pulling out my BOTD card placing it in the front of my relationship toolkit. I hope all of you will do the same, because I know there have been or are going to be times when I will need it from you.