Looking for Likes, Longing for Love
By Steve Gahagen
The Heart of Our Strengths Mentoring Clubs
In our hyperconnected, social-media-driven world, we’re constantly looking for likes. But what we long for is love.
Mother Teresa once said, “The most terrible poverty is loneliness, and the feeling of being unloved.”
Sadly, that’s the quiet crisis many young people face today. Surrounded by digital interactions, yet starved for real relationships, they scroll, post, and wait for validation—only to still feel unseen and alone.
That’s why the first value in our Strengths Mentoring Clubs is simple but profound: Be Loved.
This isn’t about popularity or approval. It’s about knowing you matter, just as you are. It’s about helping young people experience a deeper truth: You don’t have to earn love—you already have it.
One of the unanticipated gifts of these clubs is how they create life-giving spaces where students feel safe to be themselves. They’re not being evaluated for what they lack—but celebrated for what they have.
Because we lead with strengths, the environment naturally shifts:
Judgment gives way to understanding.
Comparison gives way to connection.
Insecurity gives way to confidence.
As a result, students begin to see one another through a strengths lens—and that changes everything.
They learn how to have healthy conversations, build authentic relationships, and offer presence instead of performance. These are the very skills young people desperately need as a response to today’s mental health crisis.
Questions to Consider:
Why do we chase attention in places that can’t give us the love we need?
What would it look like to let ourselves be truly seen, not just curated for approval, but held for who we are?
How does understanding our intrinsic value contribute to building loving relationships?
At Play to Your Strengths, we strive to create loving environments where students feel they truly belong. Our goal is to mobilize an army of adults equipped to help young people discover their inner talents and reassure them that they are loved. In the process, we adults will also experience love in new ways.