Based on the To Love Again blog post, this Twitter - Facebook - Blogger campaign aims to create a platform to safely feel inspired to share insecurities and overcome them. This campaign focuses on helping all of us create a more positive outlook for us to use when self-reflecting and looking out at the world.
Meet Safra. Safra is the third of the four young ladies comprising the #ToLoveAgain campaign. If I had to describe Safra in three words, those words would be curious, joyful, and empathetic. This beautiful young woman will go to great lengths to bring smiles to people's faces. In a way, she is a people pleaser, but because she loves people so much. If this is you, gimme a nod and a "mmmhm." As we spoke together about insecurities, we spoke about how hard it is to love others and to realize that they may not reciprocate that back. Another thing we spoke about is how innocence is viewed by many people in a negative light. (What the heck, right?) Safra and I share this in common.
Sometimes, people make us feel like expressing
true joy in innocence and excitement
is inappropriate for "our age" or "stupid."
Is this because people in their early 20s have had true joy drained out of them as they are willingly corrupted by temporary joys? When people see a joy they use to have but lost, something that they recall but can't come back to, does it hurt them? Is this why they are sour towards the true joy that many people, like Safra and I and maybe you, share? Is this why people see us happy and joyful in life's abundant love that is God-given and ask if we "are drunk?" (which I take as an insult most of the time, actually). Is the only happiness and freedom known to many found only when taking substances to create a false reality? The joy we have comes from God's love which we find in people and we emit through smiles, laughs, and sharing.
As I interviewed Safra, she shared how hard it was to always remember to stay positive, especially when others treated her negatively or when she felt under stress to become some type of "perfect." The thing that Safra struggles with, and probably many of you, is that you love people SO MUCH that you would give up hours of sleep to make them smile; in this, you may find yourself lost in pleasing others or working so hard towards goals that you forget to take care of yourself. This reminds me of Matthew 7:3 when Jesus asks, "How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye?" Although Jesus is talking about sins, this verse reminds me of how important it is to evaluate yourself before you evaluate others.
Never forget that in order to best serve other, you need to
first care for yourself. Being loving is a
beautiful thing, but never forget that caring for
yourself is also part of caring for God's creation!
I personally see so much beauty and reflections of God's love in people who thrive off of the joy of others. To all of you out there who love people so much that it sometimes hurts, I want to thank you for making the world a bit more beautiful, a bit more bright, and a bit more smiley, every time you let your love shine through! You are making a difference, even if you can't tell!
Check out the #ToLoveAgain campaign video below:
I love juxtasapositions mentioned in this post! So true that some people treat mature God-fearing women as 'naive' and/or 'studpid'. It takes a strong personality to see past the personal hurt and care in helping offenders overcome thier own insecurities. We really need to depend on Christ's love in us to do it.
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