Jonas Anger

Trust

Most people can give you an intellectual explanation of trust, yet they have never actually experienced it! An encyclopedic description of trust is not trust, just as the jam label description on the jam jar is not jam! This is obvious when pointed out, yet multitudes of people are trying to learn to trust, but they do not know what trust is! They only have the label. How can we expect to learn from this? Surely if we want to learn something, we need to know the basics of it. Is it difficult to learn to trust when we live in a world that does not support trust? Society supports suspicion and distrust; laws are based on this. The insurance industry is based in distrust. We do not live in a society of people who have lost their trust – we live in a society who have never yet learned what trust truly is.

It is fairly well accepted that we learn trust by first trusting ourselves. The reality here is that we, ourselves, are the one person we most distrust. How can we trust the person whom we most judge and criticise? Self-trust and self-criticism do not live together. If asked, some people say, “Oh yes, I trust myself,” yet they suffer from anxiety/angst and fear and worry. This does not add up. A good method of measuring your trust is by measuring your degree of worry. If you worry, you do not trust. If you trust, you do not worry. It is impossible to trust and worry. It is the same with fear. If you fully trust yourself and life, you have no fear. Many people fear making major decisions; they lack trust in themselves. While it is easy enough to read or hear these words, it changes nothing. To experience trust you have to live with trust.

Can we learn to live this way? Yes. I have forgotten what worry feels like. I no longer experience it. Nor do I experience anxiety/angst, or anger. I do not have mental or emotional stress, nor do I experience unease or fear. Inside me, there is peace. Why? Because I trust myself completely. I also love myself. When I speak or write for the public, I trust myself. I trust my actions. This does not mean my words and actions are always met with approval, but I trust that the way people act or react to them is perfect in their moment of creation for themselves. I trust myself, so I do not seek the approval of other people. I trust myself, so I do not criticise myself. I am not worried if other people criticise me, or have a negative opinion of me. What other people think of me has nothing to do with me, or with my life…. What other people think of me – or of you – is always based in the way they think about themselves. And, unfortunately, this is mostly negative. Not always, mostly! This is not bad or wrong or terrible; it is as it is.

The content of what you think of yourself is of utmost importance. There is a great life principle involved in all this. In every moment of your life, you are creating the direction and the content of every moment of your life. I cannot overstate the value of your realising this – and acting upon it. You are the creator of your life – do you trust this creator? Another life principle: Your relationship with yourself is your relationship with life. More creation. If you do not trust yourself, you do not – you cannot – trust life. Unfortunately, if you do not trust life, life will show you no trust – and this is your own unwitting creation! More and more, trust is needed in everyday life. And wanting to trust and trying to trust achieves absolutely nothing with regards to experiencing trust.