Trust....

~As the Captain puts his trust into the navigational guides, so must I trust my heart.~
~ Mary Anne Cumming~

Trust ~ 1 a : assured reliance on the character, ability, strength, or truth of someone or something b : one in which confidence is placed(Merriam-Webster).

When I have trust in a person I think Merriam-Webster describes it best. The assured reliance on the character and one in which confidence is placed speaks volumes to me.

When it comes to our children I think trust comes naturally as does unconditional love. Others I believe have to earn that trust. When our children do something to break that trust we try and teach them the importance of trust and why it shouldn't be broken. I always told my girls that once you have lost someones trust it is a very hard thing to get back, that is if you can get it back at all.

As I said trust for our children it natural and for others must be earned. This poses a question, why then for those who want to earn your trust do they so easily throw it away? How many times does it take for someone to lose your trust? Is there a limit? Or is it a one time thing? Does it depend on what it is they have done to lose your trust?

This could of course vary depending on whether the person who has broken your trust is someone in your professional life or personal life, or maybe it doesn't matter. Case in point, if you worked in an environment where there had to be a certain amount of trust in order for the situation to work and the person broke that trust, would you give them a second chance? OR is that trust at all and really a contractual situation?

When it comes to our personal lives, I believe we tend to push the boundaries of trust. We give that person more chances than we would give anyone else or do we? I know I do. I struggle with this. I have trusted people in my personal life and they have let me down on many occassions, but for some reason I give them another chance many chances in fact. I can always reason my way around why I should give them another chance, but am I doing myself and them a disservice? I don't know. I just know that once trust is lost it's hard to get back and can be so damaging to a relationship.

I like this qoute by Frank Crane

~ You may be deceived if you trust too much, but you will live in torment unless you trust enough. ~

I think that sums it up for me what about you?