Trust. A Simple Word.

“Patterns of the past echo in the present and resound through the future.” ~ Dhyani Ywahoo

Trust.  A simple word with a lot of meaning.  In the dictionary, trust is:  Reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.  Confident expectation of something; hope.

Trust for me is knowing other people have the honor and integrity, that I do until they show me that they don’t.  I prefer to think the world is full of trustworthy people and sometimes things that happen are a miscommunication, not a purposely misleading event.  I may be gullible, but I believe people are basically good.  Once they give me pause to see they are not trustworthy, I proceed with caution or keep them at arm’s length.  Or let them go.

My husband and I always trust each other.  We even point out beautiful people for each other to have as eye candy.  “Thanks honey, that was delicious!”  When we were first married, if men would check me out, he would say, “Let ‘em look, I know you’re coming home with me!”  It is so refreshing not to have to deal with jealousy.

I think we can really live up or down to labels.  My first husband was incredibly jealous.  It was hard to remain faithful when I got punished for his fears, but I did.  In reality, his self worth was low.  We all deserve to be loved by a faithful partner.  In the end, it was his untrustworthiness, in the form of lying and not being dependable because of drug abuse, that ruined our marriage.

I never lied to my kids and I can’t think of a time that I ever broke a promise.  I believe that they are trustworthy as a result of knowing that they could count on me.  I told the truth, even when I wasn’t sure I should.  My poor kids!  I told them that Santa Claus was a myth that people loved to believe in because it was fun and that we could believe in it, too.  I couldn’t bring it to myself to tell them that Santa really brought the presents down the chimney.  What a Bah Humbug!

Then there is the whole subject of trusting ourselves.  Sometimes it’s hard to count on ourselves to do what is expected of us – or what we expect of ourselves.  We put so much pressure on ourselves to conform to what is ideal to ourselves, our parents or whomever, that we can’t hold up to it sometimes.  That’s when we have to realize that we aren’t being true to ourselves.  That’s when we need to decide what to prioritize, what to cut, what to change…

I would like to challenge myself and all who read this to stay with their authentic selves and make decisions from the heart.  Let’s not make excuses for ourselves.  Let’s be ourselves with integrity.  It may take a while for some people to get used to our changes, but we will feel so much better when the heart, the mind and the spirit are in alignment.

“Women keep a special corner of their hearts for sins they have never committed.”

~ Cornelia Otis Skinner