Most of us have felt like our trust has been compromised at some point in our lives. Needless to say, these experiences can be very painful. Perhaps we’re still scared to trust again. We think to ourselves, “Who can I trust? And how do I know I can trust them?”

But trust is one of those things that we can’t just skip over. It’s a crucial ingredient in our lives; some call it the foundation. Without it, it’s really difficult to settle in and just love.

If we want to experience peace and happiness, then we must learn how to trust. And it’s my intention to help you do that.

Let’s start off with the undeniable truth: we all have reasons not to trust. What I mean by this is that we’ve all felt hurt, disappointed, rejected, scared, and abandoned. We have all suffered in some way (actually, we have all suffered in very similar ways), and we have all felt pain.

We’re all in the same boat. I say this because it’s comforting to realize that we’re not alone. We’ve all been hurt, and we’re all trying to avoid that happening again.

Usually, the way we try to avoid being hurt in relationships is by holding-off on trusting until we know we are safe. Trusting becomes a mechanism of protection — if the person “earns our trust” then we will gladly give it to them.

And this is the problem. Because there are never any guarantees.

Asking someone to “earn our trust” often means we are asking them not to make any mistakes and not to cause us to feel uncomfortable feelings. And this is an impossible task.

Unfortunately, guarantees are not found in relationships (computers come with guarantees — not people). In fact, what you probably can guarantee is that you will feel hurt sometimes by the people you love.

The truth is that disappointment, rejection, fear, and abandonment are all part of the deal in relationships. We feel these feelings regardless of who we are with. Not because we are with untrustworthy people, but because we are humans.

Trusting is a decision you must make knowing that there aren’t any guarantees.