Unconscious Trust

I’ll never forget the day my 17-year-old daughter came home to tell me how much fun it was to bungee-jump at Canada’s Wonderland.

Parents, you can probably imagine my reaction:  Bungee-jump??  How the heck did you go bungee jumping?? Don’t you need a parent’s signature for that?

It turns out the answer was yes.  A parent’s signature WAS needed.  But as I wasn’t present at this excursion, her friends’ mom – who was – signed for her.  The theory was simple – she was allowing her child of the same age to do it, and felt it was ok for my child to do so as well.

Fortunately for all concerned, this was a parent whose thinking and judgment were similar to my own, and I agreed that, had I been present, I probably would have (reluctantly) allowed this.  It wasn’t an issue I pursued further, or one I considered a problem - then, or now.

This did, though, get me thinking.  If you had asked me previously if I blindly trusted this parent to make appropriate decisions for my child, I’m not sure what I would have said.  After some consideration, I would probably have responded with “I guess so”.  Part of that likely has to do with the concept that we all believe we know what’s best for our children.  And part of my eventual willingness to accept someone else’s decision on their behalf likely relates to the fact that as a single parent for many many years, there were periodically other people involved in making decisions for my children – sometimes without my deliberate acquiescence. 

Have you ever noticed that there really are people you just implicitly trust?  And others who, well, you just don’t?  Most of my worst mistakes have been made by not trusting my own judgment in this!

Today, I’m blessed to have a number of people in my life I do implicitly trust.  They’re people for whom I’m profoundly grateful, and they’re also usually the people I most enjoy being around.

So today I want you to think on this as well.  Who is it that you just trust?  Just because.  Who is that you don’t?  I believe this is our subconscious telling us what’s best for us.  Listen to it.