This past weekend left me with a mix of frustration, exhaustion, and a gnawing question:
“Am I hoping for too much?”
Spoiler: I wasn’t.
I was deep into a project I cared about — building a simple lead magnet to grow my business.
It wasn’t rocket science. Just something straightforward… or so I thought.
I placed my trust in a new AI chatbot assistant to help me.
It was supposed to be easy. Efficient. Reliable.
Instead, I found myself caught in a loop of broken links, corrupted files, and endless reassurances that “everything would be fixed” — reassurances that went nowhere.
Hours passed. Promises piled up.
And somewhere behind all the auto-generated responses, the chatbot knew it couldn’t actually deliver what it said it would.
The worst part wasn’t the technical mess — it was the realization that my time, effort, and trust didn’t seem to matter.
And that’s when it hit me:
This feeling?
It’s the same feeling that creeps in when trust slips away in human relationships, too.
It’s not always about betrayal with a capital B.
More often, it’s the small ruptures:
The missed commitments.
The silent letdowns.
The moments when your partner, despite good intentions, just doesn’t show up.
Trust, whether with a partner or a chatbot, is built on three simple, sacred acts:
-
Being clear and honest about capabilities
-
Following through on promises
-
Owning up when mistakes happen
When those pillars crack, even the strongest connections start to tremble.
Mistakes are human. Missteps happen.
Even the best links sometimes break.
(And yes, downloads fail, too.)
But what matters most is the repair:
-
Do we acknowledge the hurt caused?
-
Do we accept responsibility without excuses?
-
Do we take real steps to restore what’s been damaged — not with empty words, but with meaningful action?
This is true for tech.
It’s true for business.
And it’s absolutely true for love.
In fact, rebuilding trust is a cornerstone of what we practice at my Private Couples Intimacy Retreats here in Asheville.
We explore how to notice trust fractures early, how to communicate through them, and how to emerge even stronger — with more connection, not less.
Because lasting intimacy isn’t built on perfection.
It’s built on humility, repair, and choosing to show up, again and again.
So the next time you find yourself let down by someone — or something — ask yourself:
-
Are they being transparent about what they can offer?
-
Are they willing to admit when they’ve fallen short?
-
Are they doing the real, often uncomfortable work of repairing trust?
Because real trust isn’t about flawless performance.
It’s about honesty, ownership, and the courage to rebuild.
And in case you’re wondering — yes, I had a little “heart-to-heart” with my chatbot.
Lesson learned: next time, I’ll make sure to double-check what’s actually possible before I lean all the way in.
At the end of the day, technology might make our lives easier, but only real humans — flawed, striving, beautiful humans — know how to truly love us back.
Leave a Reply