Most of our problems seem to boil down to a lack of trust

Trust is a funny thing. It's hard enough to earn it in the first place and, once lost, it's almost impossible to get it back.
Emma finishes a previous Great South RunEmma finishes a previous Great South Run
Emma finishes a previous Great South Run

It doesn’t matter whether it’s the trust of a loved one, a close friend, or someone who you’ve admired and who you’ve trusted to act on your behalf.

Trust will always be a very rare and precious thing.

At work I talk a lot about trust and how the best way to do that is to be clear about what you want and how you’re going to get it.

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Oh, and that there’s no substitute for talking face to face, even in the world of e-mail, social media and constantly buzzing phones in which we seem to live.

Most of our problems, both at home and abroad, seem to boil down to a lack of trust.

We don’t trust people who we see as different to our idea of normal, so we won’t try to understand them.

We see them as threatening.

And guess what? They feel the same way about us.

Remember when you met that foreign couple on holiday and they seemed all right?

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It’s all the other foreigners that are the problem, right? Really?

Or was the difference because you met over a shared experience and spoke to each other face to face?

At the end of the day we’re animals. We trust the evidence of our own senses over what other people tell us, and we trust the opinions of our nearest and dearest over anyone else’s because they’re part of our family group.

So it’s really no wonder that when we’re told by the people that run, or who want to run, our country that we should be suspicious of foreigners, especially when they’re working in our businesses or in our hospitals, vast swathes of the nation agree.

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But how do we know for sure whether employing foreign workers is actually a problem?

How do we know if indigenous people are being stopped from working because someone not from round these parts has taken their job?

I wouldn’t trust what they say if I were you.

I FELT REALLY JEALOUS WATCHING PEOPLE IN GREAT SOUTH RUN

I was on holiday last week, but got back in time to cheer on some friends doing the Great South Run.

I haven’t been able to do it for the past couple of years, firstly because of a bit of muscle strain last year and then, dramatically, I decided to tear most of the important bits in my knee – or at least that’s what I’m being warned I might have done.

I felt really jealous yesterday watching the runners.

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It’s not the elite athletes who capture my imagination, though they’re brilliant of course. It’s the people for whom running 10 miles is a real struggle, a test of character as well as physical fitness.

The Great South Run has been in Portsmouth for many years now and I hope it will continue for many more to come.

IF YOU ARE GOING THROUGH THE IVF PROCESS, THEN I SALUTE YOU

A few months ago a friend of mine and her partner told me they were going to be trying for a baby via IVF.

She was telling me what she was going to be going through and that they were determined to go down that route because nothing else seemed to be working for them.

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But I don’t think she nor I knew the full extent of what it would involve.

Time off work to attend seemingly endless appointments, massive shots of hormones that made her act like she had PMS on speed and other even less savoury side-effects.

I don’t know what the future holds for my friend and her chap. But to anyone going through this process to get a baby, I absolutely salute you.

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