Faith is tricky. It’s frequently known as the absence of logic and reason, and it can be hard to justify why you have faith in something in rational terms alone. Friends and family may say they ‘believe in you’ when you’re facing some challenge or other, yet what does that actually mean? For a while, I thought of it as them simply saying they wanted me to do well, rather than them really knowing I would do well. Just a nice sentiment, no real substance. I was a bit judgmental, I now think.
An example would help. If you’re a football fan, you’ll likely know that Trent Alexander-Arnold made England’s World Cup team this year. On paper, this decision makes very little sense – he’s only 19, has never played at this level before, and has relatively little experience of playing compared to others on the team. Not the best recruit for a major tournament. Yet Alexander-Arnold is trusted to do well, and once you leave the spreadsheet and look at the bigger picture the decision starts to make sense. Although he’s young, he’s put in quality performances in similar situations – he impressed in Liverpool’s Champions League matches against Manchester City, a significant opponent. He’s developed his skill very highly very quickly, making him a risk worth taking at this higher level.
Now, I’m not just gushing about his inclusion because I’m a Liverpool supporter (though it is nice to see on that personal level). Alexander-Arnold is a fantastic example of why trust isn’t simply a blind loyalty to a weak idea. He was unlikely to be a first-choice player against a team as talented as Manchester City in a competition as vital to Liverpool’s season as the Champions League, yet he appeared against them regardless and more than proved himself – he was the Man of the Match in the first leg. The trust and faith from the team and their fans may not have been supported by statistics or pure logic, yet it didn’t need to be. The trust mattered because of its impact, and the opportunity it provided Alexander-Arnold with to perform.
This principle applies to most, if not all, situations, not just football, of course. This principle also doesn’t guarantee success, as much as we would like it to. A core element of trust is risk – you wouldn’t need to trust somebody to do well if it were a certainty. Some might say that risk-taking is something to be avoided as much as possible, likely people with lots of (other people’s) money riding on their judgment, yet without risk there can’t be opportunity, and success needs an opportunity to show itself. A normal day incorporates a mass of calculated risks, especially in a large city such as London. Trust is essential to get around.
Behind all the success or failure lies an emotional benefit as well. Trust is a form of validation, and an important step in relationships. It is the keystone of a support network, something to celebrate your successes and work through your failures. Even in a matter as small as, say, borrowing a pen, trust makes a difference – if everybody refused to lend you a pen, you certainly wouldn’t leave the room feeling too well. Trust is something that justifies itself in the long run, it doesn’t need a logical basis to spring from.
All in all, I was too quick to dismiss trust and look to facts for my thinking. I’m not dismissing facts now, obviously – truth has its own, very important, place in our post-truth era. Yet there is a value to gut instinct, and as long as you’re prepared to deal with all the consequences of your trust then there’s no reason to withhold it. Of course, trust enhanced by truth is what we’re all looking for, but the world isn’t always that nice. Here’s hoping you are more willing to consult your gut, if not always follow it, and also for Alexander-Arnold to do well in Russia. He’ll be better for this trip, I trust him.