I was at yoga the other day and as class was starting the teacher asked us the following question; “What is trust?” So I wanted to share some of my thoughts.
It was an interesting class because as I lay on my mat and aligned my body in the correct posture, my mind was thinking about trust. One of the students in class immediately responded with, “it is when you can count on someone to take care of you.” I knew that was not my answer. Someone else said, “When you know someone will always be there to pay the bills and fix your car.” That wasn’t my answer either.
It is interesting that I had never really sat down and asked myself, “so what do I think about trust.”
It was clear to me that based on the answers of others; there were many different definitions. Our belief about trust develops as children. We aren’t even aware that is becoming a belief system, we notice things in our world and decide early on what and who we trust. It is formed from both good and bad things that happen.
We can have nurturing, loving and supportive people in our early lives and live with relatively few disappointments and find ourselves feeling good about trusting others and ourselves. If this was your life then your first really big experience with trust being violated can be overwhelming. Sometimes people are lucky enough to wear rose colored glasses for many years or are they?
If during your childhood you were exposed to people who violated your trust, especially multiple times then trust will be more difficult. When you have been betrayed, neglected or lied too the results can be devastating. You may find yourself guarded, walls that have no loose bricks. It is painful to lose trust.
I reflect on the many people who have struggled to find trust, in themselves, in others. The reality of life is that not all people are trustworthy, they just aren’t!! For those of us who are working to find trust, it is okay to move very slowly.
Maybe the first trust we can conquer is “trusting our gut.” Its the voice that is trying to get our attention, but we don’t follow it.
So as I lay on my yoga mat I decided my best definition for trust, at the moment, is trusting my gut. I will listen and respond. It is my way of learning to trust myself.
Sometimes I do my best thinking on my yoga mat!!
