seems an<br >tware of a<br >to as well<br >ear that a<br > see very<br >L t need to<br >:what 1 do<br >In college<br >v valuable<br >r that there<br >aally going<br >)mmon and<br >ae that we<br >tings I label<br >should feel<br >rather than<br >t~ortunity to<br >raiding，" or<br >ions in your<br >ope you will<br >ings in your<br >rations at the<br >Ld-sets can be<br >vhen we have<br >i and again--<br >With contin-<br >Learly， we can<br >Assumptions<br > It is amazing how much we can affect our experience through certain<br >assumptions about what is going on. Exploring this first type of mind-set can<br >do much to impress us with the power of our minds.<br > The danger of assumptions is that we usually don t know we are making<br >them. Suppose， for example， that I think my friend s silence means he is<br >angry. If I realize I am making an assumption， I also realize that an assump-<br >tion may not be true. With this awareness I can keep alert to new messages<br >from him， or even ask him， "Are you angry?" If I don t realize I m making<br >an assumption， I am closed to the possibilities that he might be sad， or shy， or<br >thoughtful， or deeply involved in figuring out where he can get a certain auto<br >part. From my viewpoint， his anger is reality. Proceeding on this assumption，<br >I may become anxious or irritable myself， causing various degrees of un-<br >necessary trouble and making understanding more and more difficult.<br > Increasing our awareness of our assumptions is crucial， for until we do<br >so， we narrow our vision without ever knowing it is narrowed. We are not<br >free， for we do not know that we are limiting ourselves. When we see a<br >thought as an assumption， we automatically see that it is not necessarily true，<br >and this awareness is itself an opening to other possibilities. We become free<br >to respond in ways we assumed were not possible， free to enjoy what we<br >assumed was not enjoyable. In college， this sense of freedom is especially<br >crucial， for because of certain common assumptions， college is not enjoyed<br >3<br ><br >