My wondering for the day (or at least the past few hours) was about our perceptions of others and how those perceptions shape our attitudes, thoughts, emotions, and behavior.

Question: Have you ever noticed how we base a lot of our behavior on how we expect others will act or react? Today, I realized by watching myself how much of the actions I make every day are based on not how others around me have acted, but on how I anticipate that others will react to those actions. That doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Even if I have seen similar situations play out in the past and I think I know how someone will act, I can never know what someone else will do or think or how they will respond in any given situation. So why do I agonize/scheme/strategize about how my actions will or will not affect the responses of others?

I should expound and give some examples, but I’m tired. Comments? Does anyone feel the same way?

-L