How do you experience your world day to day?  Have you noticed that you make certain assumptions about certain things?  It occurred to me this morning on my commute into London.  A young girl boarded the train at Putney.  She was probably in her late twenties or early thirties with very short cropped chestnut hair and hazel eyes.  She was pretty and reminded me of one of my cousins who I do not see very often.  My cousin is a wonderful, gentle and vibrant woman who I love dearly.

It was a few stops before a seat became available and eventually when she got a seat, I had decided that this woman was just like my cousin Mel.  I found myself feeling more and more aligned to her.  So much so that when the train stopped at Waterloo and she was in danger of being stampeded by the normal commuter crush, I made sure that I was able to provide her with a clear exit path.

In all probability she may have had a very different personality to my cousin, however, in my model of the world, I had decided who I 'wanted' her to be.  How often does that happen to you?  How often do you meet somebody who reminds you of somebody else and then you make assumptions about them?  This can of course be a negative experience as well as a positive one.  How many other assumptions do you make?  How many people might be making assumptions about you and the way you do things?  The prize of course is to suspend whatever beliefs you are holding and prepare to be open to all and any possibilities.  Also take some time to discover what kind of filters people around you might have.