EVERY day on opening my email I find kindly souls from Africa and now even India offering me vast sums of money if I hide the wealth some dictator has siphoned out of their country or that I’ve won a lottery. I’ve learned from the Internet that I also have extremely wealthy acquaintances in Bangladesh and Pakistan who have enormous amounts of money they need to transfer into someone’s name; mine!
They contact you and me literally every day! And if I will only help, they will gladly share a portion of their bounty with you and me and we’ll become instant multi-millionaires. Others promise me wealth beyond my wildest dreams if only I invest in an up-and-coming business venture. Daily, the net reminds me that greed can lead to disaster; that not everybody has my best interest in mind and I must be sensibly cautious. Their letters are well written and some even have spiritual greetings; all to win you over.
Behind those innocent letters are conmen, thieves and robbers! “So what do I do Bob?” asked a friend the other day, “Do I stop trusting people? Do we stop believing in others because of such untruths on the net?” I would rather trust than shut others out.
I would rather be taken advantage off by a few than isolate myself from everybody. Perhaps not everybody should be trusted, but I would hate to experience life without that trust. Ralph Waldo Emerson put it well: “Trust men and they will be true to you; treat them greatly and they will show themselves great.”
When we grew up, my dad and mom put money for the day into a glass bowl, and my brother and I took out what we needed. They built trust. People will more often live up to our high expectations than not if they feel they are being trusted and you’ll find friends and colleagues showing themselves to be dependable when they feel your trust.
The net may be invaded by conmen but the world we live in is a good world, inhabited by mostly good people who can still be counted on. If you feel cynical, don’t give up on trust, I feel its awful leading a suspicious life, wary of just about everyone and anyone; believe you me, trust people and they will somehow come through. There’s only one way to build trust; by trusting..!
