Can You Really Trust a Man?

Dear David,
Can you really trust a man?
~Peter

Dear Peter,
I have been mulling this question myself in a personal relationship and my conclusion is that you just have to. One of you has to go first.

I will say that I have dealt with any number of people in non-romantic situations where I have been very honest and upfront with them, despite their reputations for undependability and treachery. And I have always found that they treated me as I treated them. They were never dishonest with me.

I think the same thing applies in personal romantic interchanges. You must trust him. That is the only way he can ever trust you. And remember what I have been saying (to the point that it becomes boring) whatever happens, you are the one who lived, you are the one who felt something, you are the one who cared about someone else. If he only winds up feeling guilty, that's his problem.

(Heart in Hands photo via Art Vision's flickr photos)