by alex | Oct 19, 2012 | BE ______
It’s getting increasingly less popular to be trusting. People today tend to err on the side of caution with pretty much everything – new people, new places, new products … you’re advised to ‘be careful’, be wary, have your wits about you, don’t get taken advantage of, make sure you stand your ground, go out in pairs, stash things away, keep an eye out at all times – I’m sure you’ve been on the receiving end of some of these warnings before. And while I’m not saying there isn’t some truth to these, I do think that a world full of fear of danger isn’t a great place to be. Distrust breeds distrust. If I treat you like you’re going to cheat me, perhaps you will. After all; then you’ll just be meeting my expectations. I know we can’t be so naive to think that the whole world is full of rainbows, butterflies, and happy, smiling people who are out to help you, but I believe this is a much better way to approach situations than coming in afraid of the worst and expecting to find it just around the corner. Before flying over to Bangkok recently I would have had to use all my fingers and toes to count the cautions I received – don’t talk to anyone, look out for scammers, stay inside at night, don’t trust the taxi drivers … when I arrived, at first I was even hesitant to smile at people in case they used that as a sign to target me! But you know what? I decided that I don’t want to live that way. I’d...
