Trust.

Trust: firm belief in the reliability, truth, ability, or strength of someone or something.

Are you able to trust yourself? Do you trust others easily? Do you trust that everything that happens in this world is already written in the stars? Can you trust that the greater balance of the Universe is more important than the list of reasons we give to not trust in its abilities?


Guess who has it ALL figured out? The Universe. 

Guess who DOESN'T have to even try to figure any of it out: You. 


Trust is huge. It's arguably one of the most vital component in any relationship (with yourself, with others, and with the Universe). I have written a lot about being vulnerable and being accepting... you need to be strong in both of these areas to really be able to trust. To place your confidence in something or someone, you have to fully embrace them and be open to what they have to give you (the "good" and the "bad"). I always feel the need to put those binaries in parentheses. I don't like seeing things as black and white, and I especially don't like to point out occurrences in our lives as "bad" ones - because each and every one serve the beautiful purpose of informing our journey. Even if we get hurt in the process, having trust feels so much nicer than keeping a wall up and being on-guard for an attack that may never come. Trust means taking what comes and surrendering our own ideas of how we thought things might have been.


Trust may actually be synonymous with acceptance, now that I start teasing out the meaning and how to establish it. Also, can you have one without the other? I don't think so. How can you accept someone or something if you can't trust that X, Y, or Z is that way for a reason? For me, it's much easier to think of it at the macro-level of the Universe than on the individual person level. For example, it's easy for me to conjure up an instance where I would accept someone for who they are, but not trust them. However, even that example is a flawed one. The trust-acceptance relationship is actually the same on the macro and micro levels. Acceptance requires letting go of expectations, and withholding trust means that you have some kind of expectation that your trust will be abused (thus my example fails).


I asked a few of my close friends why they thought trust was important. Here are some of the responses I got...

"Without trust, you can't have love. Lack of trust leads to resentment, bitterness, suspicion, jealousy, and all of those negative feelings that no one enjoys. Trust is a foundation of love and relationships. And to me, those relationships are important. Lying used to come easy to me until I realized that none of my friends or family relied on me. Practicing trust leads to purity. The people who are always honest and keep themselves straight are always the happiest and most wholesome, and they attract people because it is so rare. Trust strengthens the bonds of love to a degree that is unbreakable." 

"Trust is important because it allows us the opportunity to release our control. And thus teaches us how strong we really are. It also conserves energy from the amount it takes to try to contain, possess, ultra-examine, protect, disprove, or make up stories about. And is therefore a more fluid and light use of one's energy." 

"Trust even that which is untrustworthy. Love that which is not worth loving. That's what the Universe does."

Each of these responses inspired me in a different way. Trust truly is necessary for wholehearted loving and living. Trust is also vital for us to be 100% vulnerable to what the world has to offer us. The only barrier to trust is our own resistance.