Monday, October 5, 2009

The Second Aspect of REALationship

We just finished looking at the first aspect of REALationship: commitment. Now we move on to the second aspect: trust.

Remember the illustration of a brick wall? Commitment serves as the brick of the wall, in which the strength and security of the wall exists. Trust is the mortar, the bond that keeps the brick in place and which allows constructing the wall of REALationship.

Trust is built, not granted. As one extends trust to someone else, they wait for their trust to be proven secure before adding more to the wall of REALationship. This is prudent, as you would not want to build a great wall upon an unproven and insecure foundation. REALationships are the same.

We get in trouble when we try to build big relationships before allowing them time to settle in. Due to infatuation, desire, or even what we perceive to be necessity, we sometimes rush the process of building. When this happens we end up with the same issues that arise from building a wall too quickly: when burdens are laid on the wall, it cannot bear them so it breaks down, crumbling over time or crashing down catastrophically. Neither are pretty; both are causes of great loss and added expense.

So how do we avoid catastrophic failure in our relationships? By building trust in such a way that time proves that the wall we have built is capable of being built on further, because it has borne the loads placed on it and has stood fast and firm.

Building takes time. Building trust within REALationships takes even more time.

Trust, like mortar, needs time to cure a bit. Be patient in building REALationships and you will find yours to be safe and secure, able to bear up under greater and greater loads because you have tested and proven them.

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