Trust

For many years I have focused on the power of trust in the world and why it’s something that we all give away so easily. When we were tiny babies we all learned the meaning of trust and it became a part of our lives. Almost immediately, every newborn child moves their head around to look into the eyes of the person smiling and looking at them. Soon afterwards every infant becomes familiar with the sound of their mother’s voice. Babies and children trust their parents or the nanny or manny that is taking care of them. Children learn to trust their doctors, teachers, church leaders, neighbours and friends without fear.

I truly believe that we all want to trust and believe. As we grow up and become adults, most of us start to consider who and what should be trusted. According to the dictionary, trust is firm belief in the reliability, truth or ability of someone or something. After being kicked in the face by many lessons of life, I am confident to say that trust in not something that I provide willingly anymore or offer without lengthy research and evaluation of people and situations.

Do you remember lessons that your parents taught you about trust? The one that stands out for me is hearing my mother say over and over again, “Never take candy from strangers or never get into a car with a stranger.” Being a lover of sweets, this was the hardest lesson for me to follow, but I survived. As I grew into a man I noticed that trust wasn’t all it was created to be. Early on I would watch and listen to my teachers tell us, “Do as I say, not as I do”, which was confusing to me. I can remember many of them harshly lecturing students in high school about smoking or using drugs, but after school we would hide out to see most of them smoking cigarettes or cannabis. Vividly, I can remember a counselor meeting with everyone in my high school class. Their role was to assist us in making the best career decision. Full of excitement I told the counselor that my goal was to attend college. After laughing he said, “That’s not a good idea for a Black boy, you should learn a trade like auto repair, roofing or plumbing. I trusted him 100% until that very moment. So why should we trust everyone was always the question to myself. Growing up in a family of church goers, I listened to many lies that escaped the mouths of those standing in front of a congregation waving the holy bible and later committing sins…