WoVeN Series Week 6: Trust

SGT Vera Keaton — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 12:54:35 -0400

“Trust starts with truth and ends with truth.”– Santosh Kalwar Meeting six theme is trust and the goals for this meeting is to begin to consider the many ways we can trust one another, to understand that types of trust vary across people and situations, to think about ways we give trust, earn trust, and how trust develops over time, to discuss reasons why someone might not trust a person or organization and to explore the ways that we might begin to change our mind about distrust and make our way back to a place of trust. The keys to accomplishing these goals are thinking about trust as occurring on a continuum, consider the challenges inherent in developing trust and discussing the limitations caused by starting from a place of distrust and being cognizant that, for some group members, trust may have been betrayed and may continue to cause pain.

Trust can seem like an all or nothing concept. Asking someone “Do you trust me?” is a really big deal. This question demands a yes or no answer but what if we could respond different what if we could respond with in what way? Using the trust star handout to dissect our trust really helps when putting things into perspective. The first step of the activity is to think and consider different ways that you trust people choose four or more important ways that you trust other people and add them to the worksheet. Second step we discuss our four ways and find the commonalities and the differences we have with one another and finally step three we begin with the discussion questions from each section and some examples of questions would be:

Topic 1: Trust
- In general, how hard or easy is it for you to trust people?
- Who in your life taught you how to trust?
- Are you satisfied with the trust in your life? Are there any ways that you might want to modify trust to become more or less trusting?

Topic 2: Trusting Others
- How hard is it for you to change your mind about trusting someone?
- When you meet someone new, what variables factor into your ability to trust them? Do you tend to start from a place of no information and build trust (or distrust) from there? Do you tend to start from a place of distrust and keep your circle of trust small? Are there certain people who have your trust from the very beginning?

Are there any times when distrust of others gets in the way of living your best life? Are there times when distrust is protective against getting hurt?

These discussion questions are just a few examples of questions we like to ask in order to continue with the conversation and to keep it going in a positive direction.

What if you could break down trust and consider its important components? Think about building trust with someone you’ve just met. Do you tend to trust right away, take your time, or do you tend to start from a place of distrust? If you ask yourself any of these questions this topic is for you and will help you to put how you trust yourself and others in perspective. “Trust thyself: every heart vibrates to that iron string.”– Ralph Waldo Emerson

Read weeks 1&2 here: http://rly.pt/3vSR8QZ
Read week 3 here: https://rly.pt/3vQfWZL
Read week 4 here: https://rly.pt/2PynCiY
Read week 5 here: https://rly.pt/3teePS7
To get more information on WoVen and how you can become a WoVen member visit: https://www.wovenwomenvets.org/

WoVeN (Women Veteran's Network) Series: Weeks 1 & 2 | RallyPoint

The WoVeN mission is to provide a unique social network of women Veterans to foster connections and build relationships in local communities and across the nation. Over the next 8 weeks, I will take you through our program from start to finish. As a peer leader you go through virtual training with an amazing team of women (pre COVID the training was in person). We learned, danced, laughed, ate some awesome food and had the best time. It’s so...

Response by SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth made Apr 16 at 2021 1:22 PM

SGT David A. 'Cowboy' Groth — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 13:22:23 -0400

Excellent share sister SGT Vera Keaton .

Response by SSG Samuel Kermon made Apr 16 at 2021 1:51 PM

SSG Samuel Kermon — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 13:51:40 -0400

Just reading the initial part of the article made me start thinking about my trust, or lack thereof, and how it developed. Thank you for a thought inducing posting.

Response by Laurie Geoffroy made Apr 16 at 2021 2:02 PM

Laurie Geoffroy — Fri, 16 Apr 2021 14:02:03 -0400

Love this post and especially, Mr. Emerson's quote. That is the core of trust. Trusting yourself - being confident with your own integrity, ethics, and commitment to both yourself and others. Having that inner level of trust provides the opportunity to learn when and how to trust others.
When we show up with a trustworthy mindset, we generally attract the same type of individual.
In reality, there will always be people who cross our paths not aligned with your level of integrity and trust. Sometimes, we immediately know in our gut (second brain) and other times through experiences we share with them ie, showing up late all the time, never making commitments, never paying or sharing a restaurant bill, catching small lies. While these traits may sound petty, when they are constant, they can zap our good energy. My mantra for myself is: "I prefer not to be in any type of relationship (platonic, business, or romantic) if I have to keep a scorecard."

Response by Wayne Soares made Apr 17 at 2021 10:47 AM

Wayne Soares — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 10:47:32 -0400

Thanks for the share Sgt. Keaton