I have always trusted strangers. My mom used to say that, when I was little, if anyone offered me their arms I would go with them. No hesitation. Pure innocent trust in humanity. Nowadays, as an adult, not a lot has changed. I always engage with other people with an open heart and a disposition to have a meaningful exchange, no matter how mundane the encounter is. You can call me naive, and sometimes I would deserve it, specially when someone has tried to take advantage of me. But I never let one bad experience with anyone affect my relationship with someone else.
I know a lot of people who have a completely different approach. When they meet others, they need to feel that the other is worthy of their trust. So, they start from zero and build their trust from scratch. But to me, that is the wrong way of looking at human interactions, because you start with a rejection instead of with an open mind. I feel like you are missing out on the possibility of fully experiencing the time that you spend with others.
It is very rare to find people who think like me these days. We live in such a constant state of paranoia that we don't trust anyone anymore. It's understandable, but it's sad. We are loosing our connection with other human beings. Everyone else is a potential enemy instead of a potential friend.
I’d rather be called naive than to live in a world where you can’t trust anyone anymore.
Photo credits: image by Andrzej Gruszka.
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