Giving Yourself Over to Trust

As children we take trusting others for granted. We rely on our families to feed and protect us, religious leaders and teachers to educate and guide us, friends to comfort and accompany us. However, as we get older, we learn along the way that not everything we hear or are taught is completely true. It's one side to a vast world of stories, cultures, needs and beliefs. We learn that our families may not have known the best path to take in every situation, that what may have seemed like solid fact is more based in belief, that educators don't always know more than their students, that friends sometimes say one thing but end up doing another.

And as we get older still, rather than learning to resent that unreliability, we see in ourselves those same flaws. We realize being older does not always grant wisdom, that we're not always sure what the difference is between the right path and the easy path. And we see ourselves making the same mistakes that we previously could not understand in others. To avoid making mistakes, we retreat into what is safe, or even punish ourselves for past decisions.

To protect against this disillusionment, we each turn to different things. Maybe it's getting lost in a faith or a political belief, because knowing one thing has a clear right and wrong helps everything that doesn't make sense fall into place. Maybe we turn to physical comforts, like food, alcohol, or sitting in front of the TV for hours. Some may get lost in another person like children or a significant other to define their life. Some get lost in their work, so that they don't have to go home and think about their problems, or even think that being productive or successful will make everything else easier.

Whether a person has a strong religion, works hard or loves food, it isn't these habits themselves that define a person or that cause problems. It is whether we approach the things we do every day with fear or love. Fear can sometimes be healthy. It can protect us from dangerous situations, help us to plan ahead and drive us to make stronger choices for our future. But fear can also close us off, cause us to drop or miss connections and opportunities, cause us to hate without reason, prevent us from learning something new, and even prevent us from finding peace, gratitude and love in our lives.

Our intention, in everything we do, can completely change our lives. Try waking each morning and meditating on your intention to let go of your fear and open your heart to opportunity, possibility, and what other people can offer you. Instead of worrying about what may happen or thinking about the bad things that have happened in the past, live in the moment you are in. You may be surprised about the new people you meet, the adventures you find and the things you discover about yourself.

Until next time, keep it clean!