Trust Willingly

if i had a penny for every time i heard someone bitterly say, “you just can't trust people anymore”, i’d probably have enough money that lunch could be on me today.

you would think me to be delusional if i sat here and said that “all people are trustworthy”. so i wont say that. but what i will say is this: most people are.

there are some who are of the school of thought that trust must be earned. they would not give away their coveted trust, no sir. you’ve got to prove to them, time and time again, that you are worth trusting. and then, and only then, will they take their tough-guy masks off, and ‘let you in.’

while i don’t fault people that think that way; i am not one of them. i trust people. blindly. willingly. and as some might say, stupidly. i would rather give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and be wrong occasionally; than hold the belief that everyone is constantly, knivingly, plotting against me.

call me crazy…

i routinely buy fruit from a fruit vendor near my gym in the morning. he’s a very nice man, and we typically exchange a ‘hello’ for a wave; and fruit for money. on my walk past him today, i asked to buy some blueberries, which he sells for $6 per bundle. i reached into my pocket and pulled out a $5 bill, which was all i had with me. he looked at me and said, “bring me a dollar tomorrow.”

he trusted that i would do the honest thing and bring him back the $1 that i owed him. by him trusting me without reason, he gained a very loyal customer. if he’s wrong, he’s out a measly buck, but instead he chose to trust me, a stranger, by giving me the benefit of the doubt.

trusting others, to me, is an issue of risk/reward. and i say, risk it.

Lexi from SkWids.com