Advocacy: The Gift of Encouragement
The role of advocacy in the gift of encouragement
Advocacy in the broadest sense means public support or recommendation of a particular cause or policy. An advocate can be someone who makes a case on someone else’s behalf. I see advocacy as willingly showing up for another human being and consciously giving them the gift of encouragement.
I’ve always been drawn to advocacy work because it’s immensely gratifying. It’s a wonderful opportunity to help another human being to find and see their own inner light and to come to know their right to be seen and heard.
What does advocacy and the gift of encouragement look like in reality?
It’s been my experience that anytime I’ve reached out to help someone else, I have received more than I could ever have imagined, and I have definitely grown as a person. I have never felt alone anytime that I’ve encouraged and supported others. The increase of love and light in my life has been obvious and my zest for life has increased.
As a result of the generosity of others, I’m delighted to be able to share two testimonials with you from two amazing women that I met some years ago. These women are both very different individuals. When I first met them, their circumstances had some commonalities but there were also significant differences in their stories and the paths that they had travelled.
Commonalities in stories
What these women had in common was an overwhelming sense of aloneness, not being heard, fearfulness, anxiousness and hopelessness. And because they’d been going through difficulties on their own for some time, in many ways they had lost sight of their own worth. They struggled to see their right to be heard, and didn’t see their divine right to have joy in their lives.
Testimonials
In order to help others to see the benefit of advocacy and the gift of encouragement, these phenomenal women have agreed to share their experiences.
Pam Rossiter
When I first met Caroline, I was nervous, afraid, felt lost and felt that nobody was listening to me. After my first meeting with Caroline, I felt worthy, and felt a happy feeling I had not felt in a long time. Caroline is warm, kind, true and empathetic. She has a gift of lifting people’s spirits that are at an all-time low. I could write a full page about the beautiful person that she is and how welcome she made me feel. She genuinely listens and cares about people and helps people who are feeling low to realise…yes, I am somebody, yes, I deserve to be listened to.
Anne Mc Kiernan
Caroline was like an angel sent into my life. I would panic about things and even though we never met, she reassured me and enveloped me with love. I always knew I would feel less stressed when I contacted her. The compassion I got was enormous. I felt that I could relax when she was helping me. Caroline is an amazing woman that God sent into my life. I couldn’t go through it alone but with her on my side I felt comforted and protected. I’m just blessed to have had Caroline in my life.
Caroline’s perspective…
My role in the lives of these two outstanding women was simply to be an anchor in the turbulent times that they were experiencing. In all my efforts to support them, I aimed to be a channel of peace, and to mirror the love and light that I always saw in them. My gift of encouragement to them helped them to see things differently and to feel less alone. Slowly but surely they began to see the light at the end of a dark tunnel. By me simply advocating on their behalf and giving them the gift of encouragement, they in turn were able reconnect to their own inner light. My companionship and faith in them helped them to see the truth in their lives. The strength they gained from being encouraged and supported enabled them to find perfect solutions for their situations.
What does an advocate do?
In the two situations above, the gift of encouragement took many forms – at times I just listened, and other times I needed to take action on behalf of the women. I wrote letters, made phone calls, and sometimes sought appropriate referrals. However, I believe that a more important aspect of my support was mirroring the truth of who they are and consciously seeing their loving, kind-hearted, hardworking, respectful and good nature. Helping them to see that their experiences at that time were just a bumpy patch on life’s road, which they could recover and grow from it. I shared with them that many people, myself included, have encountered and survived similair experiences.
That’s why advocacy or the gift of encouragement is possibly one of the most valuable gifts in this world.
If you, or anyone in your life needs the gift of encouragement, please just reach out and ask for help – you will find my contact details below. This particular service is offered free of charge for anyone who needs it. It’s as stated – a gift of encouragement.
