In the early days of COVID-19, when we had to bring new behaviors to the forefront of our awareness for safety reasons, I noticed how I was mourning the loss of some elements of trust that came with the shifts of behavior. For example, when out walking or biking and seeing someone, the new behavior of keeping six feet distance led me to move away from the person and that made me feel almost sad at the loss of closeness, warmth and friendliness. I was keenly aware of the fact that this could become something common, and I knew I didn’t want that to become the new norm.

Wearing masks was another guideline that created a sense of comfort for safety reasons and at the same time a sense of loss including the loss of trust, the loss for the warmth of a smile, and the understanding of expressive feelings not often verbally shared. There were so many changes in our lives, from staying home or doing things outside socially distant, not touching things, washing our groceries and mail, that we did in a sense of distrust as we didn’t know how this disease spread.

Fast forward, but really it was a long slow haul, and we are now at a place that we are being told we can do many of the things we have not done for quite a long time. I’m finding it is a perfect time to bring TRUST into our practice for the month of June.

Building TRUST is an ongoing practice. It implicitly means you are taking a risk and after over a year of changing behaviors to minimize risks, it can be hard to go back to trusting. Each action you take that asks you to undo what became familiar and comfortable is also asking you to trust that the benefit of the action will far outweigh the risks. Another way to say this is trust is a way of living in calculated risks that create faith in things that are greater than we are.

Trust is a vital essence of life. It builds our storehouse of spiritual well-being that permeates into all other aspects of our being. We are uplifted in our mental thoughts, emotional feelings and physical core when our sense of trust is healthy and strong!

As you start to come out of this cautious and calculated time that was grounded in some serious fears, be aware of how you are building trust again. Don’t get stuck in distrust, fears and isolation. Be safe while building faith and trust.