The courage to trust again

IT Trust is one of the most fragile and powerful things in the world. It takes years to build, seconds to break and sometimes a lifetime to restore.

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We all know this truth, and yet we still choose to trust. Despite everything we've seen, despite the betrayals, disappointments and half-kept promises, we continue to take that risk. And that, to me, is one of the most courageous acts a person can do.

After all, it is easier not to trust. It is easier to build walls. It is easier to believe that everyone has an agenda, that every kind word hides a motive, that every new connection will eventually lead to pain. Suspicion protects you from heartbreak, but it also isolates you from joy. It guards you from deception, but it also shields you from love. In our effort to avoid being hurt again, we sometimes forget that trust is not weakness. It is strength.

I have learned this the hard way.

Over the years, after experiencing disappointments in friendships, in business and in public life, I found myself becoming careful to a fault. I told myself I was being wise, that I had learned my lesson. But what I really did was close doors. I filtered every interaction through past pain. I became so focused on avoiding betrayal that I forgot how to give people the chance to prove themselves.

Then one day, I realized that distrust, when carried too long, can quietly turn into bitterness. It eats away at your hope in people. It makes you see shadows where there are none. It convinces you that the world is colder than it really is.

That is not wisdom. That is fear wearing the mask of wisdom. And I did not want to live that way.

Trust is not blind. It is not about ignoring risks or pretending that people will never hurt you. Real trust is clear-eyed.