When do you know you can really truly trust someone? or value them as a friend?
There's people I've known for a while, I've thought I'd trusted them and valued them as a friend but they turn out to be not what you expect.
On the other hand, there's a number of people (even some I haven't met (but will do :grin: )) who I've built up a friendship with and can talk to about abs. anything, and would really trust them and know if I confided it wouldn't go any further.
Maybe I'm being naive, but when do you know that that someone is actually an 'acquaintance' and not a friend?
At what point can you 100% trust someone, or can you really ever 100% trust someone?? :dry:
I couldn't tell you... I think that we all make mistakes.
I work by the motto 'never give more than you can afford to lose' I think that may be cynical. But something is not truly secret or private if more than one person knows.
There are lots of things that I wouldn't like others to know and I trust that the people involved would respect my wishes. I can't really hold them responsible if they thought, in the situation that they were in, that it was appropriate to tell someone else about it. I would just choose my 'audience' more appropriately next time. I am responsible for my choices.
There was an incident that occurred with some friends of mine on here a couple of years ago. Initially it looked like they had betrayed me. It became clear that the other person involved had some mental health problems, tied up with a fascination with the male friend of mine. It could very easily have ended what has now become a primary friendship for me. Sometimes we all make mistakes. I certainly do.
in edit- as I realise that I waffled off the point.
yes it is possible to 100% trust people. Even if they make a different choice to you. I think the trust is that their intention is good and positive.
I also rarely think of people as my 'friends' I may refer to them as friends because in their view of the world that is what they are. But my friends are actually my family as I have no family. So the people who refer to themselves as my friends are more probably whom I would think of as acquaintances.
Trusting people is worth the effort until proven wrong at which point it hurts and there is the feeling of betrayal etc. I think its worth the pain. The benefits of finding a person you can trust is immeasurable and life long possibly. If it so happens that you get a knock then get, up brush down and move on. Living life with suspicion has to be worse than not.
If I feel I can trust someone right from my first instinctive feeling then I give them 100% trust. If they fuck me over then yes I may get hurt but I still feel better about myself. They are the toerags for breaking my trust not me for giving it.
And yes, I've been hurt lots of times but the ratio is still in favour of giving the trust... plus it gives me a warm feeling to trust someone, after all we all need someone we can spill our guts to.
Sorry, but I can't agree with the general tone of the advice being given here - which seems to be that you should never trust anyone fully - as that way you can't be hurt as badly as if you had.
We should never forget that trust - like love - is always a gamble. And it's a gamble worth taking (shit, is that a line from a song??)
Yes, the pain of someone abusing, misusing or generally badly handling your trust is immense
BUT
the comfort, pleasure and joy that can be found in a loyal and trusted friend is, without a shadow of a doubt, so great a reward for your trust that it's worth the risk.
There are many degrees of "closeness" between friends. it's our way of life to choose, differentiate & categorize friendships to our own ends
It's hard to give any one answer that will sum up how you can trust anyone at anyone time!
Like splendsplaff the 'never give more than you can afford to lose' & kents 'don't fully trust anyone, that way you cannot be let down.' approach serves a purpose but there are times when the kid in me wants to just open up & enjoy people for who they are & for them to enjoy me and see as dependable person & confidant if need be
But to be this candid you need a very thick skin & a 6th sense for who you want to trust & be trusted by
To that end many a close & not so close I have left alone in my home with that trust that they would feel for me if they were to allow me the same privilege
To trust someone friend or stranger, you need to feel that they can trust you
sometimes im way to trusting..especially with people ive been good to..i think ,they wouldnt want to shit on a pal...but funny thing is ...sometimes they do just that...still you always have the fun of finding out and knowing who your real friends are.. and that can be sweeter than the shit that lets you down
staggy
This got me thinking. I really have only one friend who I would trust with my life, and that's my other half. He has gone out of his way to make me happy and makes my days shine.
I have lots of "mates" but not who I would call real friends. Have been hurt big time over the years, and more so when my late hubby was ill and then passed away. Because he was an alcoholic, my "mates" judged both him and I, and my other half never did - he knew both of us and treated him like a person, not an alkie. The rest didn't bother with me, and after he died said "let me know if you need anything" and when I did, they were "too busy" I only wanted a chat on the phone with one, one day, and they couldn't be bothered.. yet I had lent them loads of money and was always there when I was needed.
I am SO careful who I trust, my family is spread all over the country with no-one close, and sometimes I do feel isolated. But I would rather be isolated than being messed about..
:therethere: sometimes I need a hug, but can have my cats!!! (mind you... they're fickle too!)
if i make a friend then they become a friend were i feel i can tell them most things .
'acquaintance' i would say were people i just met socially to say hi to .
trust in a friendship is very in portend to me and i just don't feel there many people i would trust i would have to know them for quit a bit before i trust them with some thing that meant a lot to me as people have already said once bitten and it take a lot to trust again. so for me i would be the one to say be careful very careful they people out just for there self .this i have learned all to often on hear iam sorry to say. but if we let it get to us we would never find them special friends .shazxx
There are very few people who i'd call a friend
I only ever truely trust myself
I have 2 very good friends who know most things about me i trust them alot but not fully
No way of knowing until time after time the person comes up trumps for ya - and then a coupla times against the odds.
Just about then they qualify as a friend.
I like acquaintances (mostly) but I love friends!!
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