Trusting Life

Trusting Baby

The other day a good friend of mine asked me: “Which is more important love or trust?”

Without hesitation, I answered trust. This was in reference to romantic relationships.

Trust precedes love in other types of relationships with others as well—family, business, friendship, coworkers, and so on.

We sometimes confuse love with physical attraction, neediness, or being needed. But as time goes by, the attraction wears off and the seeking for validation continues.

True and lasting love is what remains after all the illusions of love are gone—love for the sake of love with no other need, motive or expectation.

Trust is the foundation of true love and meaningful connections with others. Without it, life will be riddled with doubt and fear.

You can as easily love without trusting as you can hug without embracing.  ~Robert Brault

When it comes to our relationship with ourselves, trust is equally as important. We need to trust our abilities and choices in order to move forward and grow.

The most important type of trust though is trusting life. It is at the heart of our existence. If we want to live with inner and outer harmony, we need to trust life.

Ultimately, there can be no complete healing until we have restored our primal trust in life. ~Georg Feuerstein

As I write about trust in life, I realize that it’s been a guiding principle in a lot of articles, though the topics varied. The focus of this article is on trust and what it means in our daily lives.

Trusting life is:

I. Believing that life has our best interest at heart

Life will take care of us, no matter what.

This is why we exist in the first place. We are a manifestation of life’s potential that is supported by all of life.

Each one of us has within us the keys to unlock our potential and realize our power.

Life doesn’t throw things our way that we can’t handle. Every experience (positive or negative) is an opportunity to grow and evolve.

Trust is rolling with what’s taking place, doing the best we can, without the need to question or argue with reality. We then love with all of our hearts and see the beauty of life and others as they are—perfect, flawed and everything in between.

II. Having faith that we mean something and are worth something—even in the smallest of ways

Our existence may seem infinitesimal from a cosmic perspective. We try to find meaning and value through contribution to society and doing something remarkable.

We associate meaning with success, fame and leaving a legacy. Because of this narrow outlook, we miss the point of the collective magic of creation that takes place every single moment.

Life moves slowly in small and gradual progression. To trust is to do our tiny work, love our tiny tribe, and surrender to our tiny destiny.

III. Accepting the mystery

Life is a mystery that continues to unfold. We may not know, for sure, the purpose of this crazy cosmic dance. As much as we understand about the universe and life, there will always be more to discover and understand.

Trust is surrendering to the known, and accepting the unknown as part of the journey—fun at times, scary at others, painful (more than we’d like) but amazing and awe inspiring at the best and worst of times.

Trust helps us navigate our days in the midst of the foggy and winding roads of existence.

We keep going moment to moment knowing that we have all we need (material and emotional), and trusting that whatever we might need in the future will show up in due time.

IV. Relinquishing the need to control

When we trust life, we let go of the need to control anything outside of ourselves. We stop trying to control outcomes, how others behave, or how life should be. Trust is quiet and unquestioning surrender.

From the smallest of situations to the grandest of experiences we get through (by sheer luck or a heavenly master plan) because life allowed things to happen.

We are here at this moment by the grace of life. We can lose anything or anyone we have faster than the blink of an eye. The precious gift that is life can be gone at any point in time.

V. Being grateful for the gift and enoughness of life

Whether we’re the result of an artistic godly brushstroke of creation or the winners of a cosmic roll of the dice, it sure is wonderful to be alive.

Trust is about accepting our existence, as is, at this point in time. It’s about seeing the good in ourselves and others.

The more we appreciate life, the more we feel contented, realizing that we don’t need more than what we have.

We have enough sunshine to warm our lives, enough rain to cleanse our souls and enough abundance to sustain all of us. And when things get out of balance, nature takes its course to restore its equilibrium—gently or not so gently. It’s all part of life.

To trust is to allow life to lead and for us to follow.

Trust is the deep knowing that all is well, and all will be well.

I think we may safely trust a good deal more than we do.  ~Henry David Thoreau


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