“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” —Albert Einstein
When I was in my early 20’s, I was far too trusting of people – sharing personal emotions, experiences and opinions with little concern about the credibility of the person I was revealing them to.
But once that trust was violated, I eventually grew to become incredibly guarded – remaining superficial when it came to interacting with acquaintances around me.
At this stage in my life, I trust few people with the internal workings of my heart and mind – protecting myself from those who have a difficult time simply being a listener.
But the other day I let my guard down. As we form new relationships in life, we all possess and internal understanding of when it might be appropriate to share the more intimate details of our lives.
I extended my trust to this person – believing I was making a sound decision in sharing some of the more personal details of my life.
I was wrong.
Though I hadn’t revealed any secrets or intimate details of my past, I did share experiences that were quite close to my heart – assuming they wouldn’t be shared with anyone else.
But the very next day, they were in a very casual conversation. I was taken back by this spontaneous reveal and was quick to point out that I hadn’t shared this information with the understanding it would be broadcast so carelessly.
As with most people who have little to no social skills, it was laughed off as though it were unintentional and inoffensive.
Regardless of the subject matter, when you put your confidence – your trust in someone, you don’t expect it to be broken on any level.
Am I angry and hurt? Yes. Was it detrimental enough to have long-term effects? No.
But what it has done is reaffirmed just how difficult it can be to find people of character in this world. People who understand how impossible it can be to regain someone’s trust once it’s been broken. Lesson learned – again – I supposed.
Brian Tracy once said, “The glue that holds all relationships together–including the relationship between the leader and the led–is trust, and trust is based on integrity.”
Hi Craig,
sadly we have to be on our guard to whom we confide in, trust seems to mean so little to most people, trust once broken is almost impossible to regain. I often think if only people were more considerate and often they turn it back onto the one who did the confiding with “you are so sensitive, it is no big deal” Being of good character is something to be proud of also being loyal and trustworthy are awesome traits. Gail