The Greatest Love Of All
“Find your strength in love”
Yesterday, as I was getting ready to leave, a song came on that I had not heard in a while. It’s a song that many of us probably sang at our graduations without really understanding the lyrics. Now, as an adult, I understand the words so clearly. It's such a good feeling knowing that what I was looking for was in me. It just needed to be unlocked. Walk with me a bit.
“I believe the children are our future; teach them well and let them lead the way. Show them all the beauty they possess inside. Give them a sense of pride to make it easier, let the children’s laughter remind us how we USED to be…”
When I hear this, I am reminded of the importance of our childhood. Many of us were raised by someone else's ideas, someone else’s perspective, and someone else’s experience. Now that I am an adult, our parents did their best. They have made mistakes, as we have made mistakes. Some were raised in religion to a degree, and religion stripped us of our pride and beauty.
As a parent, I am responsible for bringing my children up with a sense of pride and beauty. Society wants to make sure they understand that they are ugly and that they have nothing to offer in this world. My job is to build their confidence and fill them with laughter. I must make an effort to instill value in them. With this value in them, they will grow up being and offering their best because it was planted in their hearts. We can learn a lot from our children if we humble ourselves and listen to them.
“Everybody searching for a hero; people need someone to look up to. I never found anyone who fulfilled my needs. A lonely place to be, and so I learned to depend on me.”
Many of us are searching for something to save us from ourselves. When I think of the show American Idol, we want someone or something to idolize to take away the pain of our reflection. I could say I was. My reflection constantly told me how wicked I was. It told me I had to be brought low to be saved from myself. But what I am choosing to do now is dust my knees off, wipe my face off, and continue, this time looking at myself and my mistakes, knowing and believing that I can overcome them.
“I decided long ago never to walk in anyone’s shadow. If I fell, if I succeed, at least I lived as I believed. No matter what they take from me, they can’t take away my dignity because the greatest love of all is happening to me. I found the greatest love of all inside of me. The greatest love of all Is easy to achieve; learning to love yourself it is the greatest love of all.
As I write this, I feel a sense of sorrow. The sorrow feeling comes from not knowing how to do this. No matter where I looked, how hard I prayed, and how much I ran, I couldn't find the love I sought. I was taught to love god and others as I love myself, but how can I love others and god when I am missing?
I was the missing piece. I was the problem. You see, religion didn’t teach me to love myself. It taught me to love everyone and everything else. It taught me to put myself last. What I wanted or needed didn’t matter because I didn’t matter. But I do matter, despite what religion may say. Learning to love myself is such a challenge. I have to throw out all the lies I have been taught about myself. Deconstructing the mind is ugly because I could see what I was. So now that I’m learning to accept all of me, I can deal with the pain of self-hate and truly begin to love all of me.
“And if, by chance, that special place that you've been dreaming of. Leads you to a lonely place, find your strength in Love.” -Whitney Houston
Oh yes, the lonely road is the hardest part of the journey, but it’s worth it. I used to hate it, but now I learned to embrace it because I could take my time loving myself. Yes, I still love others, but I am taking extra care in loving myself. I believe I am worth it, and finally, I will walk in the confidence that this love will grant me. I’m not fully there yet, but I know I will one day.
I hope this message encouraged you to know that you are unique. You are more than what you may think you are. Keep going, and you’ll find yourself just as I will❤️🙏🏽.
