Trust-a powerful little word

My curiosity as a writer often leads me to the dictionary to find a simple definition of a word. It said trust is “a firm belief in the honesty, reliability, integrity, character or ability of a person or thing.” That’s a lot of power for such a little word.

As children we trust that someone will attend to our basic needs for survival. As we get older our childlike trust can be affected by lessons learned from our life experiences. At first the lessons are simple. For example we learn not to touch fire or we will be burned; we learn not to run into the path of a moving vehicle or we will be run over. As we grow our lessons grow too.

Trust is extended to our relationships, both physical and ethereal. We trust in a Creator defined by our individual experiences. Although there is only one, there are many paths to know and trust that entity. No path is greater than another.

Whatever path we are on we are given a life full of opportunities to trust others. Sometimes our trust, given in the form of loyalty, is misguided and we need to step back and ask is the relationship helping or hurting us? If it is causing negative energy it may be time to disconnect for the benefit of both parties.

I truly believe that everyone deserves a second chance, no matter what the rest of the world thinks of them. We all do things we wish we hadn’t done, so it is only fair to allow a proper amount of time for the person to change their tune and correct the deed.

To continue to accept negative behavior from anyone is beyond all reason. Many have been taught that Jesus always turned the other cheek. Well good for him. We are 100% human and as such, we are allowed to turn our backs when others treat us with disrespect. Trust is a wonderfully powerful little word that should be reserved for those who have demonstrated by their actions that they are worthy of our loyalty.