From the Desk of Mr. Mike Shukis
As a school administrator, husband, and father I have come to the understanding that Trust is the foundation on which everything else is built. Who doesn’t want trust? We all want to be trusted and to be trustworthy, not only because it says something about who we are but also because it says something about the way others see us. On a personal level, what can you trust yourself to do or not do, say or not say? On an interpersonal level can we trust our spouse, our children, friends, who we work for, the government, our nation and can we trust the Divine?
As a leader, I do not believe we can be effective without trust – which means learning to trust yourself and trust others. I have read where trust is found to be a little bit like love. When you give it, you receive it. The more you engender it, the more it grows and comes back to you. One of my goals at Marian was to have the level of trust begin to grow as a by-product of the time that we have spent together, to start to begin to appreciate one another as human beings. Even though this type of relationship is for sure a gradual process, in the end it will only benefit our school.
I believe the first step in building trust is to believe that everyone has a divine spark and to trust that it is there. Embedded in that divine spark is an innate quality of goodness that I look to see in all those around me. The very act of trusting people can unleash a powerful force that will bring out the best in others. Trust then must be the recognition of the Divine in someone else.
Think of the quote which is widely attributed to Mother Teresa:
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered; forgive them anyway. If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives; be kind anyway. If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies; succeed anyway. If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you; be honest and frank anyway. What you spend years building, someone may destroy overnight; build anyway. If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous; be happy anyway. The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow; do good anyway. Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough; give the world the best you’ve got anyway. You see, in the final analysis, it is all between you and God; it was never between you and them anyway.
The whole thrust of the quote is that you have a choice. Bad things may happen, but do the good thing anyway. People may disappoint you, but choose the higher road anyway. It is a powerful quote and exactly right because the choice is always ours. We have a choice to make about how we approach things. Do we choose to trust or not to trust? This is difficult at best in the world today. Maybe we should try anyway.
