I’ve come a long way with trust and I readily admit that I still have some work to do. I never really thought I had trust issues until late one morning in the early 1980’s it became real apparent.

In our neighborhood, every morning several neighbors would gather at my house after the kids left for school for coffee and talk religion, philosophy, whatever came up. It was a lively group and all of us had our opinions of how the world should be run. On the outside, it would appear we were self-righteous and holy thou’ers but we really were searching for answers.

We had our stack of bibles and reference books and would dig and cross reference extensively on that particular topic of the day. You’d think we were Bible scholars. We would pray and ask for guidance at the beginning of our gathering with intentions of truly wanting to learn.

It was at one of these mornings that, out of the blue, I heard in my head someone say, “You don’t trust me.” It seemed peculiar to me as it was not what we had been talking about and, as it was a masculine voice I heard, I knew it didn’t come from one of my neighbors. I took note and pondered on it for days…. “Where did that come from?” “Who said that?” “Who don’t I trust?”

Note: I want you to know that I know this is weird and could qualify for one of those “woo woo” experiences but I can’t discount or explain it away. It happened some 27 years ago and it put me on a path of exploration and growth. I never had any further explanations or revelations of what that meant but since that day my faith and philosophies have evolved and I’ve grown with a lot more wisdom on trust.

Dr. Wayne Dyer, in his “Manifesting Your Destiny” lecture series, talks about coming to a place where you have to decide to take a leap of faith – dig deep and find the courage. It may be way out there in terms of what you’ve been taught to believe. He says it’s like standing on the edge of this huge, black abyss and you jump. But, when you jump, you’re holding on to a boulder which carries you down faster. Then, you not only have to have the courage to jump but also the courage to let go of the boulder and trust.

Of course, he isn’t talking literally but in metaphorical terms. Have any of you been struggling with what to do and it seems like everything you try isn’t working? Have you thought of taking a totally different approach but it’s something you’ve never done before and it scares you. That’s like standing on the edge of the abyss.

I’ve felt that with starting this blog and sharing my stories and experiences with you. I’m not a literary expert or writer. In fact, as a child I didn’t like to read. It was a pet peeve to me cause I thought you were wasting your time sitting in the house reading when the world outside was passing you by.

As you can see, I’ve changed that outlook and have had a lot of catching up to do. This is the last thing I ever thought I would be doing. When I heard this lecture, it raised my awareness in many situations. I learned to take a chance and go for it, whatever it is. It showed me how to trust not only in myself but in the energy force within all of us.

Another interesting story came to me a couple of years ago by way of e-mail that also challenged this trust issue and I want to share it with you. I don’t know its source. It’s called The Rope. If you can place yourself in the same position, what would you do? I had to ask myself those same questions and because I did I am much further along the path today. I’m sure there will still be situations that come up testing how much I am willing to trust. I hope that whatever you’re facing today, you’ll seek inner guidance and trust knowing you’ll be okay.

From the ol’ kitchen table – Pat