Friday; January 17

Do you trust people?  I would imagine that a few decades ago, the answer to this question might generate more positive responses than it does today.  You might think that a new push toward tolerance would make trust easier; but with the development of “stranger danger”, the number of investigative reporters digging up the dirt on our public figures, the push for social awareness and the increasing number of laws (which means more ways to get caught doing something illegal) I think it is harder to trust people today.  It seems like we keep making up more ways to distrust each other. 

Since there appears to be more distrust in society in general, it is going to take an individual concerted effort if we ever want to reverse the trend of trustworthiness.  Not only do we need to live lives that demonstrate we can be trusted, but we also need to buck the trend and consciously try to trust each other more.  Some people will read the preceding statement and might say that it is a path to a greater susceptibility to being hurt, but I think just the opposite is true.  If we are finding ways to trust each other and are willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, we’ll experience more trust.  When we don’t automatically assign a negative aspect to other people’s actions, we will be more willing to take them at face value. 

Are you looking for a way to enjoy being around people more?  Maybe the first step is to be more willing to go out on a limb and trust people – even some who haven’t earned our trust in the past.  No, I am not advocating setting ourselves up to be harmed by overlooking inappropriate behavior, but if we start out with a spirit of trust, we might have fewer people we need to keep at bay. 

Think About It!


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