Don't Give Up on Trust

One woman describes herself as "five feet, three inches tall and
pleasingly plump." After she had a minor accident, her mother
accompanied her to the emergency room. The triage nurse asked for her
height and weight, and she blurted out, "Five-foot-eight, 125 pounds."

While the nurse pondered over this information, the woman's mother
leaned over to her. "Sweetheart," she said gently, "this is not the
Internet."

The Internet is becoming known as a place where the truth is not
readily apparent. I've learned from the Internet that I have extremely
wealthy acquaintances in Africa that have enormous sums of money they
need to transfer out of the country. They literally contact me every
day! And if I will only help, they will gladly share a portion of
their bounty with me and I'll become an instant multi-millionaire.
Others promise me wealth beyond my wildest dreams if only I invest in
an up-and-coming business venture. Daily, the Internet reminds me that
greed can lead to disaster; that not everybody has my best interest in
mind and I must be sensibly cautious.

But in most relationships, I would rather trust than shut others out.
I would rather be taken advantage of by a few than isolate myself from
everybody. Perhaps not everybody should be trusted, but I would hate
to experience life without it.

Ralph Waldo Emerson put it well: "Trust men and they will be true to
you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great."

Children will more often live up our high expectations than not.
Friends and colleagues will generally show themselves to be
dependable. The world we live in is a good world, inhabited by mostly
good people who can still be counted on.

If you feel cynical, don't give up on trust. Others will usually come
through. If love makes the world go 'round, then trust makes the love
go 'round.