Respect for one­self and oth­ers cre­ates trust. Trust enables love to flourish.

In our age of great uncer­tain­ty, the most impor­tant bonds are those we make and main­tain between friends, fam­i­ly, and our inti­mate part­ners. These are the peo­ple to hold onto when noth­ing makes sense, peo­ple we respect because of our deeply mean­ing­ful rela­tion­ships with one anoth­er. These are the peo­ple whose advice we trust because we know they have our best inter­est at heart. These are the peo­ple we love most.

The bonds of love are as strong as any force in the uni­verse. No mat­ter the shape or struc­ture of love, it has a tran­scen­dent qual­i­ty. When con­di­tions seem unbear­able, con­tact with a loved one can make all the dif­fer­ence to improve one’s sit­u­a­tion. Think of this path of trans­for­ma­tion­al change on a per­son­al lev­el. Now imag­ine the role of love on a glob­al lev­el that restores rela­tion­ships between peo­ple and plan­et along with essen­tial ingre­di­ents of trust and respect.

Self-respect is a pre-req­ui­site con­di­tion for show­ing respect to oth­ers. Focus­ing on our well­be­ing, and mak­ing healthy choic­es, is a fun­da­men­tal per­son­al expres­sion of respect. The more we respect our­selves, the more that sense of respect per­me­ates our inter­ac­tions with oth­ers, as well as with our environment.

Trust secures and sup­ports healthy rela­tion­ships, and is an empow­er­ing force. The more we learn to trust our own intu­ition, the more we will learn to trust the direc­tion we trav­el and those who accom­pa­ny us on our jour­ney. Trust with­in one­self, and between indi­vid­u­als, is what can make the lofti­est goals achievable.

The role of trust, respect, and love is more than just a per­son­al mat­ter. These val­ues can also trans­form pub­lic pol­i­cy and gov­er­nance. In an encour­ag­ing exam­ple of how trust can ben­e­fit com­mu­ni­ties, the Cal­i­for­nia city of Stock­ton recent­ly rolled out a pilot project to give res­i­dents with below aver­age incomes, $500 a month for eigh­teen months to spend as they see fit. In cov­er­ing this devel­op­ment, The Atlantic point­ed­ly asked, “What if pub­lic pol­i­cy were pred­i­cat­ed on that kind of trust and lack of judg­ment?”¹⁰ The impli­ca­tions would sure­ly mean increased social ben­e­fit through­out the lives of com­mu­ni­ty members.

Trust, respect, and love are not one-way forces. They are rec­i­p­ro­cal. By show­ing respect for one’s posi­tion and respon­si­bil­i­ties, trust grows. Whether our atten­tion is on the actions of elect­ed rep­re­sen­ta­tives, lead­ers of indus­try, or artists, endeav­ors that cre­ate a cul­ture of respect, trust, and love have the most last­ing, and pos­i­tive­ly influ­en­tial, effect.