What trust brings and what it costs

Friendships can be life changing relationships. And in many ways it is unconsciously a guide that can steer our lives in different directions. Some for the greater good. And some directions can lead to a fateful end. “Friends” aren’t to be taken for granted. And what I mean by that is that everyone you get along well with doesn’t automatically make him/her your friend. They are more or less of a buddy. From my perspective a friend is a companion. A life asset. An advisor. And in some ways, even a teacher you can learn from.

Trust is a rare form of currency. It’s a token. Once you give it all to a friend who you also deemed as loyal to you, that friend starts to hold a sense value to you that can’t be ignored. They start to become more important to you. You trust them. And that trust is reinforced every time you share a secret with them, or they do a favour for you, etc. once that person undermines that trust or sabotages it, it’s like they burnt all that currency away. Once trust is broken there is no building blocks to keep it together again.

Those who you carelessly place your trust in can bring dire consequences. So much to the extent that lives could be lost. Families can be devastated. It’s brings permanent doubt. And every action made to resurrect a relationship which is all but void of trust and loyalty only leads to second guessing. But what’s worst of all is that that person will not hold you in the same regard. Respect is also tarnished since trust and respect are tied together.

If there’s one thing you could do that could save you a life time of jeopardy, it’s only to trust those who you’ve observed. Who you’ve experienced things with. Who you lived along with long enough to study their character and reasoning. And that’s not through assumptions or logical evaluation. It’s observation along with educated opinion and life experience. This is why those in their old age are typically the best advisors. And funny enough, the best story tellers.