The young parents paid the babysitter and dropped her off at home. As she turned to leave, she said, “By the way, I promised Amy that if she went to bed, you’d buy her a pony in the morning.” Ouch.... (I understand that she is unemployed these days….)
It doesn’t take long for parents to learn that, if they want their children to trust them, they will have to keep some promises. So a good parent will model the importance of keeping trust in the hopes of teaching their children to be trustworthy.
When people trust us, it is like having money in the bank. In an actual bank account, we will first make deposits if we expect to later make withdrawals. When we keep our word, it’s like making a deposit into a trust fund. The more deposits we make, the larger our balance becomes.
And the opposite is also true. Whenever we break our word and lose trust, it is like withdrawing money from an account. Except that what we withdraw is goodwill.
Now imagine that you have a separate trust fund with every person you know. If you have been making regular deposits into your account with that individual, when the time comes that you disappoint, you will still have a large enough balance of goodwill to cover the debt. That friend, son or mother will realize that your account is still good. You are a person of good intent. You are reliable and trustworthy.
Scottish writer George MacDonald said, “To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.” Whether or not that is true, I would rather have a healthy emotional trust fund than a large bank account. Trust is more valuable than money – and it builds strong relationships.
Are your trust funds growing?
-- Steve Goodier
