Trust in Yourself and Others

Trust, according to Dictionary.com, is reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence. The integrity piece is straightforward, as are surety and ability. The tricky piece for me is strength. What does this mean? In the most concrete sense, one might think of physical strength...will you catch me if I fall? Can I trust you to protect me from physical harm? Can you carry that all by yourself?

However, there are other types of strength...namely, spiritual and emotional. To trust in the spiritual and emotional strength of another person is to recognize your own vulnerability. Can I place my safety in the hands of another person? Can I admit that I neither want, nor am able to, be totally independent? Do I see something in you that I lack in myself? Do I trust you to fill that void?

We can say that we do, and mean it in the most superficial way...but unless we have allowed that trust to penetrate the essence of our being, we are lying to ourselves. Our ego, our history, our pain, our fear, our lack of trust...they all allow us to delude ourselves about how we exist as spiritual and emotional beings.

We can engage in religious practice without spirituality. This is not necessarily hypocrisy, as it may seem initially. Some of us are just so spiritually stagnant that we believe we are swimming in a depth of spirituality when, in fact, we are simply treading water.

Likewise, we can interact with people constantly, without being emotionally engaged or available. I mean, totally engaged or available. We often engage with contingency plans. Or, we base our availability on what we expect in return. In either case, we are not emotionally trusting or trustworthy.

Some people live their whole lives without ever learning how to, or allowing themselves, to trust. For this reason, they miss out on love. Without trust, love cannot flourish. In the ocean of emotion, they are watching from the shoreline. Many are so entranced by the view that they don't realize they could be a part of it. Then, there are those who realize it, but are afraid to swim out. What if I drown in all that emotion? What if I lose myself? In the right situation, you will be able to trust that other person to rescue you...throw you a lifeline. You will trust that they will be able to dive in and drag you out if necessary. :)