The 100 Day Challenge, Day 30:
Trust: 1. reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc of a person or thing; confidence.
2. confident expectation of something; hope
Trust is a big word, and it is not to be taken lightly. At least not in my world. You have to make big decisions each day about who you can really count on in your life. You have to make big decisions about what direction to take with various areas of your life, who to listen to, which book to read because several people have suggested different books, which diet to try, which gym to go to, whose word to accept, what class to take, who has the best deal, or gives the best service, which Doctor can help the most, what to do with your money……..
People show their trustworthiness through their actions and words. When you are having a tough day, those who show compassion or understanding are the ones with whom you build trust. If they are with you when things are less than perfect, you know they are true. The ones you start to question are the ones who really make you feel worse under the guise of “helping”, when all you really needed was a hug. It doesn’t mean they are less deserving of your trust, but you may stop trusting them with how you feel which is not a great direction for important relationships to head in. Compassion and understanding (and making sure the other person feels it) go a long way in building trust.
Suggestions and recommendations represent another facet on the jewel of trust. You start to listen to people who you trust- sometimes we don’t even know them as they may be celebrities endorsing something, but we trust them nonetheless. Our trust is strong as long as things work out, but as soon as we feel let down, we may lose our trust in that person, company, etc.
I have mentioned your foundation in the last couple of blog posts. Another really important foundation in your life is trusting yourself. Do you? It is hard to trust others if you do not. Willingness to make choices without regret is a good indicator of your level of self trust. If you tend look for the learning when you make a choice that doesn’t work out so well, and then quickly move forward, trying the next possibility, your self trust is likely pretty strong.
We can get shaken by several seemingly bad choices and that shoots us in the direction of not trusting ourselves. Taking weekly time to reflect on what has happened in the past week and to put it all into perspective will help to keep you strong.
In the next few days, think about what trust means to you and how it is operating in your life, or how it isn’t. Look at trust in things and people outside yourself, and look within. You will have some very important information about yourself if you are willing to take the time to do this.