Trust, learning the lesson

What a powerful word trust is. Sometimes it takes a heap of courage to summon the strength to trust. All those past memories of trusting and being hurt seem to get in the way. Remember when...said...did etc. to me?  We have two choices- learn from the experience or keep chewing on it. Eventually that bone gets pretty rancid.

One can't live as long as I have and not have had plenty of hurtful experiences; of trusting someone who ends up stabbing me in the back. My most traumatic have involved members of my immediate biological family.

While talking to my trusted massage therapist yesterday I began thinking about my local writing group. The group was formed in November 2011 and although it remains small we still meet twice a month. In the last couple of months I have noticed that we have slowly learned to trust each other with the most sacred details of our lives. I never in a million years would have imagined that we would evolve to this point in such a short time. It has become a very safe place to share our thoughts and it makes me very happy to have been instrumental in organizing this group.

This led me to thinking about the group's latest endeavor of meeting with residents of our local nursing home. I remember the first time we went. The activity director informed us that we would have to have a staff person in the room. This lasted for two meetings. Suddenly, things changed and we were trusted to do whatever we felt like. Now the energy in the room with 4-5 residents is very peaceful because we just let them talk about whatever turns them on.

Trust is a two way street. Being a freelance writer sometimes causes readers to take offense to my thoughts. I'm sorry, but that's just the chance people take when they decide to stop by. What is that dingy saying? If you don't like the heat, stay out of the kitchen. I don't intentionally write to hurt people's feelings. As a friend said this morning, "It's all in the perception."

Another friend recently commented, "I like reading your blog because you write what you think no matter what anyone else thinks."

So back to trust- I guess I am beginning to let go of what was, happily focus on what is and trust that whatever happens next is meant to happen.