There is a thrill that comes with serving others. There is a sense of joy and belonging. Your heart is filled with much love. When called upon, you can help family, friends and/or strangers out. You meet a need when it arises. It is exciting to know that you can contribute something substantial to the lives of others. It is a beautiful thing.

Having a heart of love, however, can get you in trouble. They crucified Jesus – what about us? We give sacrificially, consistently and sincerely. However, we sometimes get hurt in the process. Our kindness is often mistaken for weakness and taken advantage of. We fight for others at risk of being depleted. Who encourages the encourager? Sometimes, that kind of love is not reciprocated. We then keep this section of ourselves hidden from the masses. Only a few persons know who we truly are.

If we must dumb down our love to save ourselves, it means some perversion of true love is at play. Many will not treat us how we should be treated. Many will not have the hearts that we have… and vice versa. That’s life. We are all different creatures. Our response should be to always give of ourselves, not to be used, but to serve. Love may be kind, but it is not stupid.

We, as persons who always give, must also pause to be served as well. Yes, even us. When our resources are low, even emotionally, we should pause to be refilled. We cannot afford to suffer from burnout. Anger, rage and resentment will come into play when that happens. We will not be able to give to others when we have nothing to give. We should love ourselves, be kind to ourselves and forgive ourselves. We are deserving of all that awesomeness too.

Remind yourself every day that you deserve the love that you are giving to everyone else. Do not question whether you need to fight for yourself or not. You are worth fighting for. Give yourself all the space you need to thrive in this life. Please do not let the actions of others’ terrible example make you cold and unfeeling. Rise above the noise. Be free. Grow. Heal. Live. Be a ray of sunshine in the lives of others, including your own.

^{Photo by Donesa Trail (IG: @nessii27)}