There is a weird thing about the word trust. I don't know what comes into your mind when someone poses the question "Do you trust me?", but I know that it definitely sends me into a panic. By definition, trust is the "firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something". I would assume that you trust that the sun will rise and set every morning, and that your car will begin when you turn the key, and that your credit card will be accepted when you swipe it. Those things are easy to trust and are things that I often take for granted. When I switch the focus to trusting people, however, everything changes.
This word popped into my head to blog about because over the last few days I have been attempting to help those close to me navigate through some complicated relationships in their life; some romantic and others not. Some of those people are struggling with things as simple as miscommunication and as large as someone cheating on the other.
At the core of every lasting, worth-while relationship is trust. The ability to believe and support and give your heart and life over to someone else. I feel like I have had issues recognizing the damage that a lack of trust places on a relationship. I often let past heartaches affect my current relationships and I even end up not trusting someone, even though they haven't done anything to lose my trust. I've recognized this toxic trait in myself over the last few months. I have begun making a conscious decision every morning to give everyone I come in contact with a fresh start. Every day is a new opportunity to love others and to be a light.