Love all, trust a few, do wrong to none

Give me your trust said the Aes Sedai.
On my shoulders I support the sky.
Trust me to know and do what is best,
And I will take care of the rest.
But trust is the color of a dark seed growing.
Trust is the color of a heart's blood flowing.
Trust is the color of a soul's last breath.
Trust is the color of death.
…
Give me your trust said the queen on her throne,
for I must bear the burden all alone.
Trust me to lead and to judge and rule,
and no man will think you a fool.
But trust is the sound of the grave-dog's bark.
Trust is the sound of betrayal in the dark.
Trust is the sound of a soul's last breath.
Trust is the sound of death.

Lord of Chaos. Robert Jordan, Book Six of the Wheel of Time

When we are young, we believe everything we are told, mostly. We trust our parents implicitly, know that they always mean well and want the best for us. Our world is explained through them, and we take our world-view from them. But at some point we begin to question, realising that our parents might not know everything, and that they are not always right. But that trust in them remains.

We trust our families to stand by us. We trust our best friends with our deepest darkest secrets. We trust our spouses to cherish us and bestow our hearts to them. We trust that a good brand name assures us of quality; that a doctor knows how to treat our maladies; that we aren't getting short-changed by shopkeepers.

We trust a lot of things. We trust pilots we don't know with our lives. We trust elevators and machinery.

I am finding that being so trustful isn't as easy as it used to be, as I grow older. If trust is certainty based on past experience, the trait of believing in the honesty and reliability of others, complete confidence in a person or plan, it requires affirmation to continue. Once is all needed for trust to stop being utter belief and faith in a thing.

When I was young a doctor was a godlike person. His word was divine commandment. Nowadays I wonder about his competence and if he is fully abreast of medical advancements. All it took was one doctor making an ill-judged decision.

When I was young I'd have thought nothing of trusting that a young man with his new bike knew how to control his mean machine. It wouldn't have occurred to me to worry that there might be an accident. I loved going for wild rides. Full speed on and whiz down the Marina, yeah! Or longer rides, with the wind blowing my hair and my delighted screams away until I had to shout into my buddy's ears. Now, I worry about the skill of the driver whenever I get into a taxi. I wonder if I will reach home in one piece. All it took was one minor mishap.

When I was young I took what anyone said as truth. Now I wonder what undercurrents there are in the statement, what is left unsaid?

Trust between two people is a fragile thing. You trust that your spouse is faithful. All it takes is one doubt, and that trust is tainted with nagging suspicions. And once broken, trust can never be fully restored. There will always be reservations.

There are some things you can take on trust, though. I was casting about for a title for this post, and failing to come up with my own, fell back on that evergreen option, Shakespeare. He delivered.

The Bard always provides the apt quote, trust me on this.

Cheers!