Trust is simultaneously one of the easiest and hardest concepts to grasp. The basic understanding of trust is a firm belief in someone or something. That is simple, but it is incredibly difficult for some people to have this level of confidence in others. Additionally, people trust or distrust others based on their own feelings, making the “firm belief in something/someone,” difficult to define. For a variety of reasons, trusting in others comes with varying levels of difficulty from person to person.

Generally, as we get older, we learn that not everyone is automatically deserving of our trust. We start out very trusting and willing to see the best in others, and as our trust is broken, we begin to put up walls and push people away. This practice puts strain on our interpersonal relationships. It is hard to build up trust after that trust has been broken. In our daily lives and relationships, both business and personal, trust is the key to happiness and success. If a team working together doesn’t have trust in one another, that team will not be able to efficiently work together. While they might still ultimately accomplish their task at hand, it will not be as smooth at it could and should be.

Similarly, this can be observed in relationships. If there is trust, the couple will be able to be productive and push each other towards common goals, if there is a lack of trust, it will make it hard for the relationship to progress. So, what do you do if you notice that your child is not trusting? Well, to be honest, the first thing you should do is examine yourself.

 The first relationship that a person has is with his parents. This relationship teaches him how to trust and how to be trustworthy. If there are issues with your child trusting others, you should re-examine your own relationship. If you have not always acted in your child’s best interest, you might have done damage to his ability to trust others. If this is the case, you need to do some damage-control because your actions will affect your child for the rest of his life. You as a parent have an amazing opportunity to teach your child trust in others and affect the way in which he views the world around him. Take a chance to really work on the trust between your child and yourself; this can make all the difference.

-        Bria