Why is it that it is so difficult to trust? Some people have bigger trust issues than others of course, but I believe we all struggle with trust in some area of our life. But why? Shouldn't it be a natural tendency for us to trust? At least for those of us who are sitting at a computer reading this, or typing it (me). If we are alive, generally healthy, have at least one friend, and can afford at least one or two meals a day what reason do we have not to trust? This tells me that mistrust comes from somewhere other than our day to day experience. Where does it come from, I don't really know. But today I think we should all reflect on trust. How trusting are we? Are we too trusting? Do we lack trust in people who haven't given us a reason not to trust them? How do we decipher between if we are being mistrusting irrationally, or if our intuition is giving us good reason not to trust? These are questions I need to reflect on as well. I consider myself to be a very trusting person. I feel it is a good thing to be trusting, yet to use logical caution as well. My initial reaction to people, places, events etc. is to trust that all is well. However, if I get a strong feeling that I should not be trusting of a person, place, event, etc. then I typically trust that feeling.
How can we create a world where we can all trust each other? Well for starters, we can begin by trusting ourselves. The world is filled with self-doubt. I believe it is the reason for all self-consciousness. It is because we doubt ourselves. We doubt we are good looking enough, we doubt we are likable, we doubt that others will care about us, we doubt, we doubt, and we doubt. How can we begin to trust others if we first do not even trust ourselves?!! Why is it even important that we trust others you may ask? If we want to create a world that is united and peaceful, then trust will be a necessity. If we want a world filled with people who are supportive of one another we will need to trust one another. And just the same, if we want a world filled with people who are trusting of one another then we can build that trust by first showing our support for one another.
It is important for us to become aware of our emotional reactions throughout the day. Anytime we have a strong emotional reaction, especially one that doesn't feel good, we should stop and take a breath. Next we should ask, "What is this about?" Objectively, is this really a rational reason to become THIS mad/sad/jealous/angry/fill in the blank. Now naturally if someone cuts you off in traffic or makes a rude comment to you, it may cause some negative emotion. But what about when little things like that cause a HUGE emotional reaction. What is that about? I think it stems from our mistrust. Our mistrust of one another, and our mistrust of ourselves. Begin to look in the mirror and ask yourself what YOU can do to make your life better. Instead of placing blame on everyone and everything outside of ourselves, lets take responsibility. Lets start trusting ourselves, be compassionate to ourselves, and treat ourselves the way we WISH others would treat us. When we start doing that, we may just see people responding to us in a more trusting and compassionate way.
Create peace within, see peace without all ways.
