Show The Trust

I remember an experience at Camp Royaneh, outside of the Bay area, in California.  There was a physical obstacle course that challenged us boy scouts.  It was a favorite of ours because there were places that tested our fear of heights.  One particular part of the course had to do with trust.  One by one each scout climbed up on a high tree stump and with several boys with open arms the scout was expected to turn around with your back facing the scouts and then lean back and fall into the arms of the awaiting scouts.  The idea was to display trust in your fellow scouts and believe that they would catch you without letting you hit the ground.  That was a huge deal!
I have never had reason to lack trust in Becky throughout our marriage.  I have had friends, however, who betrayed the trust that I once had in them.  That just happens with most everybody.  I desire to be one who can be trusted implicitly. 
Several months ago, I was told something, by a friend, and asked to please not share it with anybody.  I told him that I would not speak another word about what we had talked about.  He hesitated slightly and seemed to rest assured when I promised that nobody would ever know a single thing about our conversation from me.
That is one of the greatest things I love about Becky.  I know that if I share something with her that I don't want anyone else to know about, that my heart is safe and she won't share anything about what we talk about.
The saying that it is better to be trusted than it is to be loved is very appropriate. 
Just as it was true at Camp Royaneh on the 'trust fall', so it is with each of us.  We display trust for those that we love and we do things that will, in turn, warrant somebody else's trust in us.
It's one more principle in my life that I am trying to get better at.  Little by little I will get better at it and my life will be better for it.  I hope the same will be true for you.

I Believe In You

I've been thinking, over the past two days, about some of the things that are the most important to me.  If you're married, think about the one thing that makes your marriage special.  If you're not married, give some thought to the friends that you have and what makes those friendships unique.
I have given some thought to my own marriage, and, the friendships I have with people and what one common thread makes them all special.
When Becky and I hadn't been married that long, we had a conversation that involved trust for one another and the vital part that it played in maintaining a strong and successful marriage. 
I worked with a woman who was nearly old enough to be my mother.  She was someone that I cared about.  I enjoyed the conversations we had about life and about our families.  Our relationship was always appropriate.  This woman asked me one day if I wanted to go get a burger for lunch.  I responded that I would if someone else came with us.  She gave me a funny look as if I was crazy.  I explained to her that I knew it might sound crazy but that it just doesn't look good.  It would be my luck that I would run into somebody that I knew and then their thoughts would run crazy about me being alone with another woman.  Becky and I vowed to each other that even at work we would not go to lunch with someone of the opposite sex, alone.  The appearance doesn't look good and I wouldn't ever want Becky to have reason to not trust me.  "Self-trust is the first secret of success."(Ralph Waldo Emerson)  I want to do things that allow me to maintain trust for myself.
There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about the decisions I make.  Each one is based on trust or the trust that would be lost by making a poor one.
I have friends that I would trust with my own life.  I believe that no matter what, they would guard my heart and all would be well.  The number of these kinds of friends is smaller in number but important none the less.
I want to be a person that others can trust.  When I say that I'll do something, there should be no question that it will get done.  When I say that I'm in one place, it is sure that I am there.  When someone tells me something in confidence, they can be sure that I will not tell another person...PERIOD!
These are the things that I want to do.  There is a saying,"that it is better to be trusted , than it is to be loved."  I believe that is true.