#5: The ability to trust.
Another thing that a narcissist will never have is the ability to fully trust another. And for this one, I always go back to empathy. I know how difficult it is for me to understand what it’s like to live without empathy or to live with a severe deficiency in empathy. So, understanding the mindset of a narcissist is very difficult for someone who has a healthy amount of emotional empathy. But I believe the reverse is also true. Somebody who does not have a healthy amount of emotional empathy would find it very difficult to understand what it’s like to have that healthy level of emotional empathy.
So, they don’t really understand the feelings behind it and how that empathy can drive you to make decisions, and it can keep you from becoming a ruthless narcissist. But if you think that everyone has the desire to get ahead, no matter what, and the ability to be a ruthless narcissist, then you’re really going to have trouble trusting anyone. And with this, I will add: I know a lot of you reading this right now have some trust issues because you have encountered a narcissist, and that is completely understandable.
For more: 3 People Narcissists Cannot Tolerate.
But having trust issues doesn’t mean that you don’t have the ability to trust. If you’ve ever considered yourself a trusting person and have scaled back on that because you’ve been hurt, then you definitely have the ability to be trusting. And your lack of trust becomes a choice. With a narcissist, it’s not so much a choice; it is really their worldview that they believe that anyone can and probably will act the way they do if given the chance. In reverse, we can see how we end up trusting narcissistic people and then getting hurt, because it’s difficult for us to believe that they would be as ruthless—that anyone who ever cared about you could be so ruthless.
When it comes to empathy, it’s hard to wrap your head around what you don’t have and what it’s like to be in their shoes, which is interesting because that’s essentially what empathy is. So, you might say that having empathy for someone who doesn’t have empathy is the biggest empathetic challenge there is. And I’m not saying you need to, just an interesting observation.
Recommended:Â Healing from Hidden Abuse: A Journey Through the Stages of Recovery from Psychological Abuse.
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