“A lovely little girl was holding two apples with both hands. Her mom came in and softly asked her little daughter with a smile: my sweetie, could you give your mom one of your two apples?

The girl looked up at her mom for some seconds, then she suddenly took a quick bite on one apple, and then quickly on the other. The mom felt the smile on her face freeze. She tried hard not to reveal her disappointment.

Then the little girl handed one of her bitten apples to her mom, and said: mommy, here you are. This is the sweeter one.”

Often in life we are too quick to jump to conclusions about other people’s motives without first taking the time to understand the reasons behind why someone may have done something they did. And sadly we are often the very hardest on those who are the closest to us. Yet, if we would just delay passing judgement until we are able to understand what was in someone’s heart, if we would give them the benefit of the doubt, we would probably save ourselves tremendous angst.

Remember to give people the chance to explain themselves before you jump to any conclusions. And while you are waiting to hear, give them the benefit of the doubt. At some point you’re gonna hope they’ll do the same for you.

Have a fantastic day!

-Amy Rees Anderson