Today, you may feel the need to exercise extreme caution at home and in your workplace. Because you likely sense that others are holding back information, you may begin to be similarly tight-lipped to protect yourself from what you regard as dishonesty. Yet consider that your guardedness may come between you and the people you care about. Your friends, relatives, and colleagues may be keeping certain thoughts and feelings to themselves because they believe it is the best course of action. If you respect others' right to privacy today and assume the best of them, they will likely prove your positive expectations right.

While others may not always have our best interests in mind, we should endeavor never to fully close ourselves off from the notion that the people around us are acting from a place of integrity. It is easy to suspect that those whose motives are veiled are less than sincere, but these individuals may have their own entirely valid reasons for choosing not to reveal their intentions. When we trust others until they give us a reason not to, we do not feel compelled to doubt their every word or action. We recognize that simple distrust offers us no protection against those who do wish to harm us, so it is better that we put it aside so we can interact with our peers and colleagues with an open mind and an open heart. Though you may feel skeptical today, you can foster good relationships with the people around you by giving them the benefit of the doubt.