Steve, I disagree wholeheartedly.
If I trust you, and am loyal to you and you screw me over, should I then just nod my head and continue to trust you and be loyal 'unconditionally'? I don't think so!
Trust is easily given at the start of a relationship, but once it's been lost it is that much HARDER to regain.
Loyalty is a little different, sometimes we remain loyal to those who do us wrong, but then there are usually 'circumstances' that must be considered for those type of breaches.
I give my trust willingly, loyalty's a little different to me, and I only give that to those who I feel deserve it (family, friends, the company I work for, etc)
I believe it is better to believe in people and have to be proved wrong than to NOT believe in people and live a bitter suspicious/paranoid life cos you can't trust anyone!
But in no way whatsoever will I give my trust
unconditionally, I feel that would be naive and open the door to being used/abused/walked over by whomever you've given that gift to! (and no, that's not paranoia, it's realism) So I'll be trusting, but smart about it!
If I'm shown that I shouldn't trust someone, there's no way I'll keep giving it 'unconditionally'. Of course, I'm not saying trust can't be rebuilt, but it's usually a LONG process.
It's not like when you love your kids/family, where no matter what they do you'll love them anyway (unconditionally) cos they're your kids/family - loyalty and trust offer incredible strengths but they can also be easily shattered into many fragments.
