Trust
“Trust
is the glue of life. It's the most essential ingredient in effective
communication. It's the foundational principle that holds all
relationships.”
Stephen
Covey
I
believe we come into each lifetime with an assignment—something we
will have ample opportunity to work on, and hopefully master. I have
felt for most of my life that my assignment is trust. Trust is an
enormous challenge for me, and as fragile as a butterfly's wing for
most people. Carol Brady, of Brady Bunch fame, described it this way,
“Trust is like a vase...once it's broken, though you can fix it,
the vase will never be the same.”
Here's
the part of this life-task-deal I would like to skip over: “...we
will have ample opportunity to work on, and hopefully master.”
People and situations will be placed in our path to help us
accomplish the task. Always, trust is dicey business: if we're too
trusting, we're easily taken advantage of, and if we trust no one, we
end up sailing this voyage alone. Between those two poles is
discernment, which requires trusting ourselves.
When
we make mistakes and experience pain and humiliation as a
consequence, our self-trust is undermined. When we get into
relationships, whether business or personal, that go south, we lose
faith in ourselves to make smart decisions. Regaining trust in
ourselves is sometimes the biggest challenge of all. Discernment is a
skill. Like any skill, there's a learning curve. Discernment requires bumping our noses, and
sometimes, stumping our toes a few times. It requires thought and
patience.
With
each “opportunity” we either build trust, or further
undermine it. The bottom line is, when we learn to trust ourselves,
we will find it easier to trust others. Once the vase is broken,
piecing it back together will not be easy. Sometimes, it may not be
possible. The question becomes, “Is it worth it?”
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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