I made a comment to a friend the other day about how people are connecting on Facebook and sharing their opinions on everything political. I said I liked and trusted people more when I didn’t know their politics.
I should add I trust people more when their politics are the same as mine. I was surprised when I recognized that prejudice in myself and now that I am aware of it, I’m taking steps to ‘be the change’ as Gandhi so aptly stated. I believe in inclusion and trusting people according to my 5 Commandments:
- Caring
- Consistency
- Competence
- Commitment
- Communication
Nowhere in anything I’ve written or researched does it show there are more trusted people in one party than another. This applies to both my home country of Canada and the country I call home right now, the USA.
When we moved to Philadelphia I got to know our neighbors. At Christmas time I walked up and down our street with hand written invitations to our party. When I knocked on the door, I introduced myself, pointed to where we lived and had a lovely conversation with each and everyone who answered. Not once did I ask “By the way, which political party are you affiliated with?” As a kid do you ever remember that mattering? You liked someone because they lived across the street, were nice to play with and shared their stuff. Shouldn’t that still be the criteria?
In 2016 after a bitter election, friends asked me if I was going to invite those “____” fill in the blank for whatever political party you didn’t vote for. The answer was “Yes”. We continue to invite everyone on the block regardless of the sign they had stuck in their grass.
So back to my original statement about trusting people more when I didn’t know their politics were different from mine. I know I’m not the only one who thinks this way but collectively we need to expand our thinking on what is trustworthy. I’m willing to. Are you willing to?
Here are a few questions to determine whether or not you can trust:
- Do they care about you?
- Are they reliable?
- Do you feel safe when you are with them?
- Will they keep your confidences?
- Will they speak well of you when you aren’t present?
I’m so tired of all of the negativity and anger out there. Starting today, let us all find things we trust about other people based on higher ideals. The world will be a better place.