Whom Do You Trust?

. . . Seriously . . .

Okay. Whom DO you trust the most? The least? How much do you trust, say, your dentist, clergy person, car salesman, attorney, local politician, your boss? Civilized society is based on a great deal of trust, both blatant and unknown.

 

Trust is defined in The Merriam Webster dictionary as: belief that someone or something is reliable, good, honest, effective, etc. A very simple definition for what is actually a very complex concept. After all, none of us trust everyone or everything fully, nor do we distrust that which we feel deserves that faithlessness 100%. We all maintain different levels of trust, from implicit to impossible.

Trust begins the moment we emerge from the warmth, comfort and endless supply of nourishment our mothers provide us for nine months. It's then when we begin a life of trust and faith. Faith that we will be fed, clothed and sheltered. Faith in our parents to care for us when we're ill, to ensure we have shoes that fit, to protect us from the unknown dangers that seem to be lurking around every corner and under every bed. We, most of us, learn to have faith in whatever deity colors our cultures and lifestyles. Teachers, doctors, friends and family are all objects of our naive and untainted faith of our early childhood. As we grow up, and we experience disappointments - betrayal of our blind faith - we begin to mistrust. The more we learn, the more we realize that the world isn't rainbows and unicorns, for the storm clouds enter our lives at the most inopportune moments, and unicorns . . . well, we all know that the Tooth Fairy rode off on its back into the setting sun of our faith and imagination. 

It all begins to wear on us, and we start to question our very existence. What is life? Why are we here? What's the point? Who can we turn to? The answer is, of course, a simple one. We turn to ourselves. The big question is, how much do we trust ourselves? Being our own most stringent critics, our self-trust is as up and down and rickety as the Cyclone in Coney Island. However, even with the bad decisions marbled with the good, like a premium steak our lives tend to be filled with tremendous flavor. Savor the moments, and never second guess yourself. If you think about it, any lack of trust you've grown to perceive is because you probably forgot that the one person you can always count on is you.