The ‘Thinks’ People Think

People think about their interactions with us more than we think.

People often think more than we know,

Just think about the thoughts we’re inclined to stow,

Developing perceptions without much a fuss,

You’d think we’d think more before we start to cuss.

Thoughts unfathomable, present, awake,

With this on-board we see just what’s at stake,

So, why do we deride what’s right in our face,

Instead of deciding to create a more peace-lit space?

Polished, not dissonant, seems to be our way,

If only we find this way’s to stay,

Treating the people we meet as smart and not dumb,

Doesn’t look now as if they’re sucking their thumb!

Without much exception this is our world,

An existence where care should never be hurled,

Even though we’re tempted to oft-complicate,

Treating people fairly is for us to necessitate.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

How often do people totally disregard others as they open their mouths? We’ve all been to foot-in-mouth land; raising our voices or saying the unguarded thing as if the very people we’re talking about weren’t even there.

Assuming People Think

Some people, of course, don’t think much about what goes on around them. This is for a variety of reasons I won’t go into here. Their default might be to think that other people are like they are—and not pondering much about what goes on.

The danger is the assumption breeds an ignorance that is bound to surface later in the form of relationship problems. Suddenly the oblivious person in question is shocked at others’ responses... “How could they take what I said like that?”

In other words, the hurt’s already in flow and the ignorant party doesn’t even understand what the fuss is about.

Therefore, assuming people do think, and many times very deeply, is a wise basis for living life. It’s taking responsibility for our words and our actions, and it’s caring for others and attributing to them the senses of reason, feeling and motive.

For this is common to humanity.

© 2010 S. J. Wickham.