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To trust someone is the greatest compliment you could ever pay them. I believe that love, respect and trust are all inter-connected with each other, and they form the essence of friendship, relationship, marriage and partnership. Trust involves confidence, reliance, and faith in others. As a result it is something which evolves over time; I believe it cannot appear instantly. A strong, reliable relationship must exist of some kind between the parties; this relationship can be an academic or professional, one of friendship or love. Consequently commitment to the other person is fundamental in the gaining of trust.

As trust signals such a special, strong relationship between a couple or group of people I believe it cannot be freely given. It is arguably one of the most difficult things to do, for it requires such a huge leap of faith. To trust someone means that you feel safe enough to share your inner thoughts and feelings; to bare your soul, and expose yourself. I have found out by painful experience that it is not wise to do this until your confidant has proved themselves to you their trustworthiness and honesty. When I was younger I was nave enough to believe that trust could be freely given, and that my so called friends would keep their word when they promised complete confidentiality. I learnt the hard way that it is extremely unwise to trust people straight away based on good faith and their word. For a promise is simply as good as a person's honour, therefore actions speak louder than words.

I agree theoretically that we should be able to trust freely without fear of being hurt. In an ideal world, trust thy neighbour would go hand in hand with the axiom love thy neighbour, and be an instinctive reaction.

However in the real world people do not look openly and trustingly in the eyes of strangers, especially in recent times. One is wary of even meeting another's eyes, due to the amount of stabbings and murder which is happening on our streets. It can be dangerous to freely trust others; the elderly are wary of opening doors, and nothing is left outside and unattended which is not bolted down. This mistrust can extend to your partner, you really need to be sure that you can rely and depend upon them.

Trust therefore has to be earned. Being someone's confidant is a big responsibility and honour, you need to be worthy of someone's trust. Once you have proved yourself then you gain the confidence of others and are privy to the secret desires, dreams, hopes and fears of others. It is consequently not to be taken lightly or abused. If your trust in someone is violated for any reason it can potentially be damaging emotionally and mentally. And as a result you may find that trusting others in the future becomes harder, due to your confidence being shaken.

Learn more about this author, Hannah Curtis.
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