~Thought For The Day~ Trust, More Than Words ©

      Standing atop the high dive, I felt like all the breath inside my body was gone, I felt like everyone below could hear my heart pounding, I carefully curled my toes on the very edge of the board.

My face burning from the sun and also from the thought of the whole wide world watching me high above them; I peered down, the water was the most beautiful shade of blue, the warm but yet refreshing, summer breeze coming along at just the right time, reminding me to exhale.

I searched the blue for that familiar face, where was he? He promised! As our eyes met, felt the raging emotions calm and I thought back to our previous conversation.  And to this day, I remember it pretty word for word.

“Teece, you can do it, I promise I will be right there to catch you when you jump, just go, and then you won’t be afraid anymore.”

“But Brian, what if you aren’t there, what if, you forget, or you see one of your friends and I jump by myself?”

“TC, I will be there, I promise, trust me.”

So after feeling like I would puke I carefully and very deliberately climbed every rung of the high dive ladder.

My mind playing every scene that could happen, I had only been alive for about 12 years so I played out much like a horror movie, but as my fears rose, I could hear a whisper in my ear, “I promise, trust me”.

So here we stand on top of the world, well it was to me, the sounds became muted, the world didn't exist anymore, and I only focused on Brian’s face. He smiled and waved me down.

I uncurled my toes, I sprung up and then as I quickly made my way down I thought of nothing other than Brian’s promise, my mind racing, he just had to be there waiting for me.

I remember as I plunged down and the cold water met my body that I was sinking from the impact of the dive, I looked around and before I could even start to paddle to the surface, I felt him there, his arm in mine, his face next to me smiling, and then he gave me that big ol’ thumbs up.

I did it! I made it!

We got back up to the edge of pool and he was still holding my arm, not wanting to embarrass him in front of any potential girlfriends, I reached down and squeezed his hand, he winked and I knew. He was proud of me and we would discuss this further when we went home.

He kept his promise; he was there when he said he would be.

That further strengthened our bond of trust.

At such a pivotal moment in my life, I took a leap of faith, and he kept his word and was right there, with me trusting his word.

Now let’s replay this if he had not been waiting in the deep end for me.

I would have surely risen to the water’s surface, but his promise would have been broken, I would have forgiven him of course, over time but the element of trust that I took a leap for would have been broken.

It would have taken time to regain it and it would have caused a tremendous strain on our relationship.

I am glad he was there.

Trust is a tricky devil, I, myself trust very easily but once it is beaten, broken or bruised, I tend to shy away because I am guarding myself and if the person who broke it makes no attempts to fix it, then I am safe from harm. If that person works at meeting the promises and works to restore trust once again and I see progress then my wall slowly begins to crumble and the healing can begin.

I ran across this quote and I could not find the author but how very true it is.

“You should trust people by their actions, not their words. Because a person might have a heart of gold, but then again so does an egg.”

Trust is the foundation for every single relationship in this world, be it with a parent, a friend, a love, whatever, if you don’t have trust, what do you have? If trust becomes broken, it takes much time to repair it and reinstate the feeling of knowing you can count on that person’s word once again.

Many times in my life I have faced trust issues, and at one point I became very jaded and trusted few, as I began to open my heart again and let people in I also saw things in a new light.

If someone wants you in their life, to remain there, they must maintain trust, and if by chance it is damaged, it is up to the person that brought about the broken bond of trust to  put on their tool belt and get busy doing the needed repairs.

A common argument I have heard in my life is this, “I said I was sorry, I won’t do it again.”

Sadly that often times isn't true, and words alone can’t regain trust, it is an action, one that is hard but if you want that person in your life, it is worth all the work to get it back.

My bond of trust with Brian is very much still intact, we have had normal

 friend quarrels and problems, but he has kept his word to me over the years, and that single fact alone has kept us close for 30 plus years.

In my mind’s eye, I see trust as a bridge, with two people standing on each end, you walk towards each other, knowing you will meet in the middle, if one of you doesn't come forward and never tries to advance, you are back at the start of the bridge trying to regain entry, and shouting across a bridge making promise won’t make the other person believe, they have to see take steps towards them. The step may be slow but they see advancement and with each step, their faith and trust starts to form once more.

My friends, trust is a precious gift, and if you find that you wrecked it or injured it, treat it as a wound, apply the necessary medication, lightly bandage it and care for it with love and attention until you can remove the bandage and see that the healing has taken place. 

Never neglect it, deny it or take advantage of it, because infection will set in, and it much harder to nurse back to health at that stage.

I am not preaching to never trust, I stated before I trust so easily, I am saying if you have tampered with it, do all that you can to restore its strong powers and you will see that faith will be rebuilt, possibly stronger than before.

Here are my thoughts.

©

Teresa