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For me, the concept of trust has gone through many ebbs and flows. Earlier in my life, I was the most defensive person. My lack of trust would sometimes reach the extent of not wanting others to even know my last name. But life has happened to me many times. Each time life happened, it altered my understanding of trust. Life happened and taught me to trust family. Life happened again and taught me trusting family doesn’t mean trusting blood relatives. Life happened again, and again, and again. Trust is a risk, and not too long ago, became a risk I’ll always be willing to take.
For a person that doesn’t have much to give, trust is one of the few things I actually can give. Right now, I willingly trust anyone until they give me a reason not to; that reason is determined by me because, at the end of the day, I still have a right to be selfish. I already know my approach with the abstraction of trust differs from others.
I recently learned of an acronym for trust that stands for Truth, Respect, Understanding, Safety, and Transparency.
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I have friends whose trust took me a long time to acquire. I have lost a friends’ trust, and pay for my mistakes every day to get it back, knowing it may be unattainable. My minor infatuation with this particular abstraction is how the only factor that is consistent with trust is that you either have it or you don’t, just like you either give it or you don’t
I recently learned of an acronym for trust that stands for Truth, Respect, Understanding, Safety, and Transparency. I share this acronym with readers because I believe all of these terms can contribute to one’s ability to take the risk, and actually trust someone.
Sharing your TRUTH, and learning of someone else’s truth can lead to you both having that mutual RESPECT for each other. Even if you agree to disagree, you have a high level of UNDERSTANDING that you will not always see eye-to-eye. Because of this, you have the potential to be vulnerable because you feel SAFE around this person, which can lead to you both being fully TRANSPARENT with each other.
With trust, I don’t believe the process of earning it is hard. Rather, the time that it takes to earn the trust is what I find most difficult. I have gained one’s trust within a matter of minutes, but with others, it has taken as long as four years.
Another point I find interesting is how people measure trust differently. Some measure it with acts of kindness. Others measure it with emotion. Some may even measure from an analytical standpoint. Regardless, how can a person trust the idea that they can potentially earn someone’s trust without knowing how that person measures the trust they’ll potentially give? As the reader, I’m trusting you with my thoughts, and I hope you trust me with yours in return. So do you define and measure trust?
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