When we hear the word faith, we always equate it with religion. Faith is often associated with God, a person’s personal relationship with the Lord.

However, there is another facet to the word faith.  It involves how one person sees another person. It is having complete confidence in something or someone.

I am often asked, are faith and trust one and the same?   While both pertain to putting your belief or confidence in someone or something,  trust has a much deeper level.

Faith is believing in someone or something even without seeing.  It can be based on a spiritual belief, common knowledge or scientific study.  Why do we vote for public officials in office? It is because we believe that they can make the change we would like to happen in our society. Same thing with putting our children in their respective schools. Why did we choose that school?  We have confidence in the school’s quality of education and we believe that they can instill the right values our children need.  We arrived at these conclusions because it was based on other people’s experiences. We developed that faith in someone or something based on how others encountered them.

On one hand, trust is developed over time and may not be permanent.  A person develops his trust over someone based on how long they have known each other.  The danger in trust is once you break it, it is hard to gain back.

When we go through difficult periods in our lives, we seek for people who can help or lift us up.  We ask peers for possible counselors, coaches or mentors who can change our life’s perspective. Once we find one, we develop “faith” with that person based on your experiences with them.  You have faith that this coach, speaker or mentor can put your life in the right direction. As you start a relationship with this coach or mentor or counselor, over time, that faith turns into “trust.”  You begin to share with them secrets or personal stories of failure or success. The relationship that started on a professional level may evolve into a more personal one.

If you feel that you need support or guidance in certain aspects of your life, do not hesitate to seek out help.  Put your faith in someone or something and allow them to lead you to the path of success and happiness.