When I was growing up, “stranger danger” was the big threat. Parents and teachers warned us not to accept rides from strangers. Don’t get into a car with someone you don’t know.
I think about that every time I get into a Lyft or Uber.
They say we’re living in the age of the “Trust Economy.” The proliferation of “sharing apps” — AirBnB, Uber, Lyft, TaskRabbit, and others — requires us to invest trust in strangers.
Of course, the truth is that the economy has always been based on trust. You had to trust what other people told you about merchandise, or that the currency a buyer used was legitimate.
Creating a culture of trust is essential to harmony — in the workplace, the home, your local community centers, schools, or in the world at large. If you didn’t trust that you would be safe, you might never leave your home. This is why when there’s an attack on a place we consider to be a safe space, we all feel wounded. It violates our communal sense of trust.
To accomplish anything in life, we need help. Seeking this help requires us to invest our trust in others.
Without trust, we have isolation, divisiveness, skepticism, and cynicism. Lack of trust creates a culture of fear.
Sounds a lot like the world we live in right now.
Everything external is a reflection of the internal. What you see in others is a reflection of what’s going on within you.
If you can’t trust yourself, you can’t trust others.
To create a culture of trust you must start on the inside, by cultivating self-trust.
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