A Sound Bite is a short reflection inspired by a recent Girl, Take the Lead! conversation—an opportunity to explore one idea a little more deeply.
In this Sound Bite, host Yo Canny reflects on a question that emerged from her conversation with Andrea Mein DeWitt:
What is the difference between trust and faith?
Together, they explored generosity, boundaries, trust, and the challenge of holding life with open hands. But after the conversation ended, Yo found herself continuing to think about trust—not as a feeling, but as a practice.
In this reflection, she explores:
✨ Why hope, trust, and faith are related—but different
✨ How fear and control often travel together
✨ Why courage is required whenever we release certainty
✨ What Andrea's "Open Hands" philosophy can teach us about leadership and life
✨ The question many of us face as we navigate relationships, aging, parenting, retirement, and personal growth:
What do we do when we can no longer control the outcome?
This Sound Bite was inspired by Episode 298:
🎧 The Generous Heart: Boundaries, Trust, and Letting Go of Resentment with Andrea Mein DeWitt
About Andrea Mein DeWitt
Andrea Mein DeWitt is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC), author, and creator of the Name, Claim & Reframe® methodology. She helps high-achieving women navigate challenging relationships and life transitions while leading from authenticity rather than armor.
Learn more:
https://andreadewittadvisors.com
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🎙️ Coming Next
Join us next week for another Sound Bite reflection as we explore belonging, community, and the moments that remind us we have more in common than we sometimes realize.
Inspired by the spirit of the Fourth of July, we'll reflect on why belonging matters, what brings people together, and how connection may be one of the most powerful forms of leadership.
Until then—
Listen inward.
Lead outward.
[00:00:06] Welcome back to Girl, Take the Lead, and I'm your host, Yolanda Canny. This week's Soundbite Reflection was inspired by my conversation with returning guest, Andrea Mein DeWitt. When we wrapped up our conversation, I thought I knew what I was going to talk about. I thought it would be trust. But as I sat with the conversation, I found myself asking different questions. What exactly is trust?
[00:00:35] And how is it different from faith? You know, a few weeks ago in another soundbite, we talked about hope. We said hope isn't blind optimism. Hope comes from evidence. We see signs, we see progress, we see examples. And those experiences give us reason to hope.
[00:00:57] Trust feels different. Trust comes from experience, not evidence. Trust says, I've been here before. I've survived hard things before. I've learned things before. And I've watched this person show up before. I've seen enough to take the next step. Trust isn't certainty.
[00:01:26] Trust isn't certainty. It's confidence built over time. But when I started thinking about something Andrea and I discussed in this episode, the idea of open hands, the idea of trusting our adult children, trusting that our generosity landed, trusting that what we've modeled matters.
[00:01:51] And I realized that eventually we've been here before. And I realized that eventually we reach a place where experience can only take us so far. At some point, evidence runs out. Experience runs out. And we're standing at the edge of something unknown. That's when faith begins. Faith is about the future. Trust perhaps about the past.
[00:02:16] Trust. Faith says, faith says, I've never been here before. But I'll go anyway. And if I'm honest, I think that's where many of us find ourselves. Maybe it's a relationship. Maybe it's a retirement. Maybe it's a health challenge. Maybe it's watching our children build lives of their own. Maybe it's a dream we've nurtured for years.
[00:02:42] Maybe it's a dream we want certainty. We want certainty. We want certainty. We want certainty. We want guarantees. We want to know how the story ends before we take the step. But life rarely works that way. And that's where fear shows up. Fear whispers. What if it doesn't work? What if they make a mistake? What if I'm disappointed? What if I get hurt? What if I let go and everything falls apart?
[00:03:14] Fear loves control. Fear loves control. Control feels safe. Control tells us that if we just manage things carefully enough, we can protect ourselves from uncertainty.
[00:03:26] But eventually we discover something. There are some things we simply cannot control. We cannot control other people. We can't control outcomes. We can't control how our kindness is received. We can't control how our children choose to live their lives. We can't control what happens next.
[00:03:52] But that's where courage enters. We can't control how our values of life is involved. We can't control how our kids are here. Who can control what happens next to them. We can't control how our fate will be rectified.. And that's where courage enters.
[00:04:22] Because I have faith that whatever comes next, I'll meet it. That may be the deeper lesson in Andrea's beautiful idea about open hands. Open hands are not passive. Open hands are courageous. Open hands release control. Open hands trust. Open hands have faith.
[00:04:53] And perhaps that's why they're so difficult. Not because we don't care, but because we care deeply. This week, I'd invite you to reflect on a simple question. Where in your life are you being asked to loosen your grip? Where are you being invited to trust?
[00:05:20] Where are you being invited to have faith? And what would courage look like there? Because maybe leadership isn't about controlling the outcome. Maybe leadership is about showing up with integrity, taking the next step, and trusting yourself enough to let life unfold. Thanks for listening. Till next time,
[00:05:50] listen inward, lead outward, and remember, sometimes courage isn't holding on. Sometimes courage is opening your hands. Talk soon. Bye.