Trust

  “The only element that keeps people from being terrified of each other is trust. The moment that is lost, people become nightmares to each other.”

Sometimes it is worth reading an entire book to get two lines which make more sense than the entire book. This is what happened when I read R.K Narayanan’s book “the financial expert”. In the last few pages was the above two lines and I suddenly grasped the import of those words. They reached out and grabbed my attention.

When we analyze our lives we find that every interaction that we have with people is based on mutual trust. We decide to talk to people, confide in friends, ask for advice and help all based on trust. Trust seems to be implicit in every association.

We trust shopkeepers on their word of the quality of their goods. They trust us with the authenticity of our money. We trust our friends with our secrets; they reciprocate by trusting our word. We trust our employer to pay us and they trust us with their work. We trust our parents with ourselves and they trust us with always loving and caring for them.

Sometimes trust has to be earned through many years. Sometimes it takes only a matter of minutes. Like my visa interview that lasted only 2 min. Or the trust my mother has in me earned through many years.

The second line in the quote made me reflect on what happens when trust is lost. How can you lose trust? You loose trust when a person behaves in a way that you thought (s)he would never behave in. What happens when you lose trust in people? Exactly what the sentence says. They become nightmares to you. Every instant seems to be a road to perdition.

The crazy way in which the world works also points to the existence of a clause which says that even when trust is lost it can still be regained. Trust is a confusing term and I feel people use it for a host of terms. To name a few :

love : “I trust you to be there for me always“

commitment : “I trust you to finish this piece of work”

secrecy : “I trust you to not tell anyone about this information”

and so on. I trust you find this informative. 🙂