Let me give you the blunt, brutal honesty on being a giver. On loving others with a blinding love.
There is simply no better way to live, in my opinion. It’s the most natural thing we can do - To love. To give. To believe in the goodness of others and do what we can to help the world. It is why we are here on earth. And if you have love to give, it only starves YOU to hold it all within yourself.
To love others is to have great strength. It takes confidence to love without expectations. It takes fortitude to love freely. It takes authenticity to love selflessly.
Now, thats the good news.
But there’s another part of that that’s important to know.
If you really love others, you will just never get it all back. You can’t expect to. That’s not the point. People will take it from you and give you nothing in return. They’ll feast at your table and not even offer to do the dishes. They might question your motives, even if you have none.
(And it is almost never malicious - They rarely know that they’re doing this)
They will sometimes jump to assumptions. They will come up with judgements.
If this happens, please just remember this is out of fear and has almost always has nothing to do with you.
People do interesting and strange things when they know that you truly see them, down to their core. They feel vulnerable and exposed and many times, this will be one of the rare times they have felt this. They will know they cannot hide behind an identity or a presentation so they will have to be themselves and tell the truth. And not everyone does a great job with this - Especially if they’ve been hiding for a long time.
(Many times this is because they’ve been hurt in the past and again, this has nothing to do with you).
So if you love others freely, I commend you. I respect you.
I know full well how hard and isolating it can be many times. I know how much it takes out of you and how little you get back. But I commend you because there is no higher form of genuine strength and kindness.
I promise you - It is the valiant journey. It is the one worth taking. It is the one that fills you with purpose and presence. It is the one that brings the best out of people and helps the world heal at a time when we need it more than ever.
Just do not take this journey out of an expectation of getting it back. That simply cannot be the point.
The reward is the purpose. The reward is a soul that is always full. The reward is a life without regret.
