Trust… traps and boosts

 

Trust used to be something almost invisible: a quiet agreement between people, a sense that what you see is what is.

Today, that simplicity is gone.

We live in a time of artificial intelligence, manipulated realities, fake news, deep fakes and information that looks real, so real… and it isn’t. Trust is no longer just a feeling, it asks for discernment, presence and a different kind of intelligence.

And yet, even in this landscape, the need to trust has not diminished. If anything, it has become more essential. Because without trust, everything collapses into suspicion… and living in constant doubt is exhausting.

I remember a simple exercise I used to do with teams. One person would stand, close their eyes and fall backwards; the team would catch them. Nothing sophisticated, no technology, just people looking for something meaningful.

But what happened at that moment was powerful. The person falling had to let go and at the same time, others had to be fully present. Trust was not a concept - it was an experience.

And that is something we are slowly losing: the experience of trust. We may talk about it, question it … but we don’t always practice it. So, let’s practice…

But, yes, trust also has its traps and those are reasons for which many people avoid trusting.

Being naïve is one of them. Confusing trust with blind acceptance or assuming that because something feels right, it is right. Let’s not forget overconfidence and trusting excessively in systems, in roles, in titles, or even in our own judgment without questioning.

There is also the subtle trap of believing in someone simply because of their experience, trajectory or reputation, as if the past could fully guarantee the present.

Then, on the other side, there is the inability to trust, because past experiences closed the door and disappointment becomes a filter. For protection, we turn away from others and live in our little castle, cove or cave.

Trust moves in this delicate space between openness and discernment, letting go and staying aware. When it is healthy, trust does something very specific: it creates a sense of inner safety. Not because everything is certain, but because there is a willingness to engage with life even during uncertainty.

There is a feeling of being supported… by others, by processes, sometimes even by something deeper, which cannot be fully explained.

And maybe that is the real shift required today: to stop seeing trust as something we either give or withdraw… and start seeing it as something we cultivate.

Not blindly, not rigidly.

Consciously, trusting with eyes open, with full awareness. Trusting not because the world is perfectly reliable, but because we are creating it, at every moment.