Have you ever put your trust in the wrong person? I'm embarrassed to say that I've done it over and over again. I always want to believe the best in people, and it takes a lot for me to trust someone, but once I do, it takes a LOT to make me not trust you.

People say that I'm quiet when they meet me in person. Really, I'm shy. I like to stand back and assess situations. That doesn't seem like my personality, but it is. There's a book called "The Gift of Fear" -- it's written by a top security professional in America and it outlines his story watching his mother kill his father in the home, and the instant before when he watched her face change and knew it would happen. At that point, he got his sister out of the home and fled.

Now, that tragic incident made him an expert on reading people and his main point is to get people to listen to that voice in the back of their heads that warns them. Most women ignore that voice because they want to be "nice" -- we're taught to be "nice". We're taught to avoid conflict and will often give of ourselves rather than stand up for ourselves.

So while I may stand back and assess, I don't often listen to that niggling, and that's my promise to myself this year. Not to become fearful or scared of living, but to set up some boundaries for myself and allow the truth to filter in without reacting so quickly. Have you ever ignored a warning sign? Put aside your sixth sense? How do you balance healthy trust with a good dose of careful living? The picture is of Nevada City, near my parents' house. Doesn't it look idyllic? And trustworthy? Ahem.