The Importance of Trust

I cannot swim. I do not trust anyone to teach me to swim. My experience of learning to swim at school (amazingly many schools had swimming pools in the 70's) was having the cretin of a teacher hold my head underwater for the count of five to instill my confidence in the water. It did the opposite.

My son learned to scuba dive at a local dive centre near Peterborough.* Initial introduction to this activity was made at a swimming pool snorkelling - he was then introduced to the tanks and then started training as a diver under a scheme regulated by an internationally recognised organisation called PADI. Whilst this activity is expensive I would recommend it to any parent for their child to participate in even though I cannot even swim.

The most important lesson that diving taught was learning to trust. In this case learning to trust yourself and others. Indeed whilst it is a safe activity your life and well-being relies upon you trusting in yourself and your dive buddy who may be a complete stranger - and he or she has to trust in you. This life skill is essential and gives you an edge over others. When I changed school my father gave me the advice, “Love many, trust few, and always paddle your own canoe.”

He was wrong. The more people you trust the more you find that trust is reciprocated. 

I see this in people that do not trust anyone - they become isolated, even paranoid. If you trust a child they will grow. If you trust a child with a knife or a pair of scissors they will not cut themselves. If you do not trust them the chances are they will cut themselves. I remember speaking to an art dealer once asking him if he was ever afraid of dropping a piece of porcelain - he replied that because he trusted himself not to drop it it would not happen. In the same ilk a timid person walking through a bad area is more likely to be mugged than one that trusts himself and those around him.

The lesson is learn to trust most people - at least once!

*Thanks to a local authority funded course initially.