I am a person who will trust you. It’s one of my go-to’s. I want you to be a good soul. So I’ll trust you out of the gates.
With two exceptions.
First, if you’re broadcasting serious sketch-ball vibes I’m going to catch the transmission. I’m not a sucker. My trust extends to those without clear creeper overtones.
Second, I have a hard time trusting you if you’re me. Most people are not me so that’s good for most people. Still not great if you’re me. Which I happen to be, last time I checked. (In related news, I spend the entirety of most days with myself. It can make for a long day if you let it.)
Learning to trust myself is a lesson not easily learned. You might know someone receiving a similar education.
It’s tempting to defer to others when something’s on the line. It can become addicting if you do. Letting others make the tough decisions for you is a form of outsourcing action. The moment requires action. These are the times to pronounce judgement on yourself and be found not guilty of the crime of conformity. The only way to do this is by expressing uniqueness. Not for it’s own sake but because you are you, and by being so, you are being something no one else can be. You are being you. Which is unique. Which defies conformity. Which leaves you free to be whomever you are to be. Which is how you will give away your gift one day at a time.
To further the point, your being you is not just freeing, it’s to be trusted.
“The voyage of the best ship is a zigzag line of a hundred tacks. See the line from a sufficient distance, and it straightens itself to the average tendency. Your genuine action will explain itself, and will explain your other genuine actions. Your conformity explains nothing.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson was a fan of being yourself above all and answering to the same. He didn’t seem to be concerned with the lack of predictability involved in doing so. He embraced it as he embraced himself. Because he trusted himself over all others. Emerson’s plea for self reliance was thorough. I don’t agree with all of it. Much of it though I do.
There’s that saying “If you can’t trust, you can’t be trusted.” It’s not that simple but I think that’s true sometimes.
So, if that’s true, what does it mean when you can’t trust yourself?
I don’t know for sure but I’d wager it wouldn’t get much press coverage.
