Today I was thinking about the word trust. It can be a noun, a verb or an adjective. It has a long list of meanings under the headings of LAW, COMMERCE and ARCHAIC. Academically it may be found in many social sciences like education, philosophy, psychology and economics. Trust is woven into the fabric of all aspects of our daily life so deeply that we may forget it's there. But it is fundamental to our ego and our self esteem. It's synonym is confidence.
How does trust impact our decision making? At birth we begin a journey of developing interpersonal relationships out of our necessity for survival. Trusting that food will come as we demand it is the beginning. Our basic needs are given to us from caregivers and we bond with them and build a trust. As the brain develops, more complex thinking patterns appear and we begin to play with those we trust by testing our inner awareness of our interrelationship and ability to control our actions and their reactions. Our conclusions may come from our personal deductions as well as information given to us that we may accept or reject. A code of acceptable conduct is part of this process.
At 'terrible twos' an individual clearly lets others know that a strong will is emerging. The tot pushes ideas and desires wanting to make its personal choices. An alert caregiver notices changes in development and guides the tot making sure it's understood. Confidence in good outcomes fuels its learning. And so trust continues to be woven into a process so fundamental to basic well being.
What happens when the pattern of trust between the self and the other is broken? Confidence is shaken. It becomes necessary to reposition the self within the social setup. A replacement for a lost trust is usually sought. Sadly when a replacement is an object, it cannot give feedback. The feedback has to be imagined.
I do not have to imagine the comment feedback. All of you are so kind and Robert's back. That puts my confidence way up. Spring will be here soon. I just need to have some patience.
so happy robert is back. hope your eye is better also. as a child I trusted everyone, i was raised in a home where trust was a given, now i find it difficult to trust anyone. over the years as i approached my tender old age of 66, i found very little to trust in our world, from politicans to friends. there are a hand full of people now that i would trust with my ife and of course I trust in the Lord. trust is a thing of the past
ReplyDeleteAds you say, Kleinstemotte: 'Trust is woven into the fabric of all aspects of our daily life so deeply that we may forget it's there.'
ReplyDeleteThat is until it's broken and then it's hard to retrieve our trustfulness, certainly not without work. but sometimes the betrayal can feel so complete we don't even want to try.
I hope your trust in those who matter to you is not too shattered at this time. Trust, like hope, is necessary as a means of keeping on going.
Many people say, "Put it all behind you." But to do this requires that one can trust that the future will bear different fruit than trust in the past did. I figure a bit of time is required to do that.
ReplyDeleteI used to be a very trusting person, but, betrayal messed that up for me. I find it hard to "let it go", I can forgive, but how do you forget?
ReplyDeleteVery often people use the term "faith" and "trust" interchangeably; this often comes up in arguments revolving around religion.
ReplyDeleteBut they are quiet different as you pointed out in your post - trust is acquired over time and through experience, versus faith which is often accepted with no underlying reasoning.