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Have you ever wondered what the difference is between best friends and friends? The difference is the level of trust. Take a moment to think about that. When you learn the most recent gossip, when you receive the greatest news or when you hear sad news, it is you best friends that you go running to tell. It is not necessarily that you have the most fun with your best friends, it is the fact that you want to share the most important parts of life with them! Trust in friendships is vital and usually, the stronger the trust is, the better the friendship will be.

Trust plays a huge role in all relationships we have in life. It is the foundation to fostering more meaningful friendships. This post will delve into the benefits of being trusting, the role trust has in improving friendships, how to look out for when trust is lacking and it will cover the 7 reasons why trust is so important.

Read this post to learn the reasons why trust in friendships is so very important

What is trust?

Trust in a relationship is all about honesty, reliability and vulnerability. To truly trust a friend we must rely on and confide in them without fearing that they will break that trust. In healthy friendships, over time there will be a mutual understanding that both of you can be counted on to be honest, supportive, and dependable. These expectations we have in friendships hold us accountable and make us provide our best efforts in being a good friend! 

So, what should you remember when trying to build trust? To allow your friend the best opportunity to trust you, you must trust them! Don’t fear being vulnerable or dependable. Trust that is reciprocated in friendship is the glue that strengthens the bond!

Recognising when trust is broken

Recognising the level of trust in a friendship might not be so straight forward. At times you might trust someone more than you should, and there are certainly times when friends will overshare or confide in you when you think they wouldn’t have. Since trust in friendships is so subjective, it is not always easy to see when trust starts to break.

Here are some red flags when it comes to identifying a lack of trust in your friendships:

• Dishonesty – Catching a friend telling lies or hiding the truth 
• Reliability – A lack of reliability in a friend. They often cancel plans, fail to make commitments with you and break promises
• No keeping secrets – They share information that they know they shouldn’t
• Empathy – A lack of support. Friends dismissing your emotions and not making an effort to take a look at a situation from your shoes

Overcoming trust issues

Broken trust can lead to trust issues for many people. If you are one of those people, you know that to start trusting again takes time and a whole lot of faith. There are so many ways in which trust can be broken but to have it result in you having trouble trusting people means something significant happened. Whatever event or events have caused you to lack trust in friends or people in general, they are in the past. What matters from now is that you give your best effort to create events where people can prove they’re worth trusting!

Let’s use an example from above: Dishonesty

If someone has been untruthful with you in the past and this has caused pain, then trust may well have been broken beyond repair.

In the future be as open and honest as possible in communicating with your friends so that you set an expectation for them to do the same. Carefully provoke them to speak about something controversial so that it will test their honesty. A great question for a friend is “Is there anything I do that frustrates you?“

Acceptance and Forgiveness: Both are very important in overcoming trust issues. Be accepting of mistakes and forgive people when they do wrong, but do not forget. To forget the past completely will no allow you to move on. Acknowledging what has upset you or annoyed you and working through it by forgiving and accepting will allow you to move forward. 

The benefits of trust in friendships

Trust is foundational to healthy and strong friendships for plenty of reasons. Some key benefits of having trusting friends is they have a positive impact on your mental health, they’ll cooperate better with you, and your communication with them will be noticeably better than other friends. 

A friendship built on a foundation of trust is one that is safe and supportive. You should feel that you can openly express yourself, share your thoughts, and be vulnerable without fear of judgment or betrayal. Trust also enhances communication, enabling friends to have transparent and meaningful conversations as well as those goofy fun chats. Also, knowing having trustworthy friends helps so much for your general mental health. Having the freedom to talk about frustrations or other negative things helps take that extra weight off of your shoulders. Overall, a foundation of trust in a friendship cultivates a fulfilling friendship, happiness, and a genuine sense of belonging. 

The role of trust in developing deep connections with friends

Trust is like the secret glue for holding and strengthening awesome connections between people. When trust is present in a friendship it creates a safe space where you and your friend can be your true selves without fear of judgment. Trust helps us open up and share our hopes, dreams, and fears. These are the things that help create deeper and more special connections! It also makes communication smoother because you know you can rely on each other’s words. Trust builds a strong foundation for cooperation too, which makes it easier to tackle challenges together. So, if you want to develop better connections, trust is a vital ingredient in the process. Sprinkle it in and watch the magic happen!

The 7 reasons trust is vital in making friendships for life

1. Establishing reliability

Reliability in friendships is not something to take for granted. It is the simple, smaller things that are not appreciated as much. By establishing reliability early in the relationship through a foundation of trust, your friend will have an expectation set. There is less room for them to be unreliable and ‘get away with it’. Remember how great you have it when you can rely on someone. Friends relying on each other brings them closer together.

2. Encouraging honest communication

By building a relationship with trust as the glue, friends must communicate openly and, of course, honestly. This helps develop great friendships because communication is key. When friends communicate in a truthful and transparent way, they share more private stories, open up about bad experiences and do not leave things left unsaid. Communication will help you and your friends remain close and get even closer.

3. Emotional support

Trust between friends allows both people to be vulnerable. Vulnerability is extremely beneficial in a friendship because it provides another avenue for emotional support in life. For example, sometimes it can be difficult when limited to only to family. Expanding your support circle is really wise.

4. Building an emotional connection

An emotional connection will grow stronger the more honest you are with a person. The reasons above mention communication and vulnerability and this combines those elements. Having your friend be available for you to show your vulnerability and talk about it is what will change your ‘friends’ status to ‘best friends’ in no time.

5. Strengthening cooperation

Think of your friendship as a sporting team. Using soccer as an example, the more you pass the ball around and trust your teammates with possession of the ball, the better your team will work together as a unit. So, the more you trust your friends by sharing information about yourself and having them be someone you can rely on, you will develop a type of friendship where you are a team. The more trust there is, the better your cooperation and the cooperation, the stronger your bond will be.

6. Enabling forgiveness as well as resilience

In a healthy functioning friendship, if things go wrong, you practice forgiveness and resilience. If there is a foundation of trust in a friendship, it can be easier to forgive your friend after an upsetting event. That forgiveness allows you to prove your resilience in friendship. If you lack trust to begin with, you may find it more difficult to forgive someone when they do something to hurt or frustrate you. To overcome any of lifes obstacles is a great quality in a friendship, so don’t let setbacks end your relationship. Instead, bounce back by accepting and forgiving so that your friendship progresses even further!

7. Nurturing personal growth

Trust in a friendship does not just help the relationship grow, but also each individual on their own. When you put your trust in someone, they will be able to speak more confidently and honestly with you. This means that when there is something to be said that may be hard for you to hear, they will go ahead and say it. You’ll be more likely to hear constructive criticism and then have the opportunity to take it on board so that you can grow. Also, trust helps friends encourage each other with full support. That is so important for each person to grow and better themselves.

There you have it! 7 reasons for the importance of trust in relationships. Keep on trusting others and stay trustworthy! Trust is the key to making and maintaining your closest friendships.