Hello, Susan! Thank you for kind comment. Sometimes I feel like I’m not “burning very brightly”, so “brilliant distinctions” is good! :)  I think your comments about commitment, shared intention, and possibly a shared future lend depth to the discussion. And I love your comment, “Commitments are a much better truing mechanism than expectations...” I think that a “trusting character” has to be in “this place” (commitment) by nature. Point # 6 speaks to this, and says, “A ‘trusting character’ has a commitment to growth, and always takes the long view with itself, and with others. It knows instinctively that growth is a process (complete with ‘growing pains’), and that no one is ever ‘a final, finished product’.” I sense that you might feel, as I do, that there is perhaps a little too much distorted “emotional trust” these days, and not enough focus on, and development of, “trusting characters”. I also love your final comment, “...rather than to reinforce the fear of trusting others like it were a hot stove we now ‘know’ not to touch again”. Yes, people are wonderful bundles of incredible potential desiring the just right relational soil in which to grow, not instruments of pain to be feared. This was a difficult construct to develop and write about for concern that it would be misunderstood. To clarify for folks (and perhaps to apologize for my odd way of making points), no, I do not “expect” people to hurt me, frustrate me, tick me off, or let me down. I just know and accept that these “commodities” will be a part of facilitating their journey to the full expression of all that they are, and all that they can be. As I think is true of you, Susan, I have a very deep commitment to that very process; the actualization of all people. I appreciate you! Thanks for the opportunity to clarify and deepen the narrative!