About Today’s Topic

Warm greetings to each of you! This first issue of the year is later than usual. As I mentioned in the 2015 Year End Reflection, my current attention and focus is with my mother who is peacefully living out her final days. During this time of quiet reflection by her bedside, I am connecting with one of the most essential elements of being in the current, and that is: Trust. I’ve selected a few articles on this theme from the In the Current collection, the first of which is below.

This particular issue from 2009 is taken from a series called: Can You Make It Happen? (You can find links to that entire series here.) In each opportunity, crisis, and crossroad that you face in life, the issue of trust is critical. Whatever you’re working on, concerned about, or hoping for this year, use the next few articles to reflect on how Trust is coming into play for you at this time.

Where Do You Put Your Trust?

(Part 4 in the Series: Can You Make It Happen?)

Trust

There is a lot of talk these days about both the government and the private sector breaking the public trust. This topic of trust is relevant to where we last left off in our discussion about “making it happen.” In part 3, I emphasized the importance of putting a healthy distance between you and what you desire. I called this having a level of trust and detachment. Today I’ll pose the question:

Where are you placing your trust?

Check Yourself

Which words on the list below represent where you invest your trust? These are not mutually exclusive, and I’m sure there are other items we could add. Just see which ones speak to you.

In myself, my determination, my ability, my intuition
My family, friends, peers, professional network
Society, Humanity
Government
Private Sector
The global economy, free market
Knowledge, Expertise
Experience
Facts
Ideas
Science
Religion
Philosophy
Astrology
Forces of Nature
A Random Chaos
Intelligence
The evident
The mysterious
God, Creator, Higher Power, Source, The Universe
Life itself, the process of life

In the last issue, I encouraged you to “recognize that your dreams and goals will be edited as you go along.” My message today is not to suggest where to place your trust, but to ask you to increase your awareness of where you put your trust because this will influence precisely how you allow your goals and dreams to be edited. If your trust is misplaced, for instance, you might unknowingly scale back your goals when in fact they could have been realized. Likewise, you might hold on to a particular goal for too long whereas if you had re-examined it in light of what was being revealed to you, you would have noticed a more well-suited opportunity that was emerging.

Trust Consciously

Even if it is “in nothing” that is trusting something! Don’t do this by default. Know what’s underneath your dreams, your choices, and your responses. Consciously placing your trust where you believe it is warranted will give you a sense of calm even when the world around you is upset. You will be better equipped to steer clear of some upsets and more able to interpret those upsets that are unavoidable.

This Week’s Call To Action: Look at where you place your trust by asking:

• In what and in whom do I trust?
• How might I need to “adjust the mix” and redistribute where I allocate my trust?
• Where do I choose to rededicate my trust?

“Trust in what you love, continue to do it
and it will take you where you need to go.”
-Natalie Goldberg

Note: The article, “Where Do You Put Your Trust” was originally published February 24, 2009.