SHOULD WE TRUST PEOPLE... EASILY?










Pic.: Uttam Ghosh



“None of us knows what might happen even the next minute,
still,  we go forward. Because we trust… Because we have Faith.” 

Whenever I ask our participants to write down some of their main strengths and weaknesses, I come across this one: “I trust people easily” or “I trust people too much.”

Should we trust people – easily?

I think, if we operate from our innate faith and strength, trusting others – even if it means easily and early – comes to us naturally, and, that’s how it should be. On the other hand, when we operate from our fear – insecurity, lack and skepticism – it doesn’t come to us naturally… It cannot.

Let’s imagine this scenario: I meet someone and approach him with lack of trust. And, he, too, approaches me in the same manner. Where is this interaction, this relationship going to take us?

One of the two parties has to operate with a strong, confident heart… a heart filled with trust… a heart which is driven by faith. When it goes that way, the other side, invariably, responds with confidence and trust…

“A thief sees only a thief in every one,” is an old saying. When I view another person with suspicion, all the time, I am a ‘thief’… and, I will end up seeing only thieves there, outside!


Two days ago, I had hired an Ola cab in Ahmadabad to go to the airport. A couple of people saw me off before I got into the cab. Barely a few feet the taxi had moved, the driver said, “Saab, aap ka nature bahut achcha hai.”

Now, we were total strangers and we have had hardly a glimpse of each other… What was the need for this taxi driver to say so?  But, he did. Immediately, it triggered off a goodness streak in my heart… and for the next half an hour, we both opened up… When we arrived at the airport, he pulled the bill, I paid it off… “Achcha laga aapse baat kar ke,” I complimented him.

Yes, every time I leave my home, every time I meet another soul there outside – known or unknown – I have the same two choices before me: meet him with my crossed fists or with my open arms… to view him as a thief or as a friend…

And, yes, I can choose or refuse to believe that everyone out there is a thief… Just as everyone else can choose to.


GERALD D’CUNHA


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