How Do You Nurture?

I have never read the book The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love That Lasts by Gary D Chapman but many of my friends have.  It is on my list of future reads.  When visiting with my daughter Ashley about it, we were categorizing how we show love and how people show us love.  The love languages are listed below. 

• Words of Affirmation
• Quality Time
• Receiving Gifts
• Acts of Service
• Physical Touch

So I realized that my way of showing love is "acts of service"...in particular, cooking for my family or helping them with things/projects.  It is interesting to me that how we show love is often how we need love.  In other words, what speaks to me from people who love me is what they do, more than what they say or what they give.

The conundrum of course, occurs when the people around you have a different love language.  It's hard to always stay in the moment, thinking an action through and how it impacts (or doesn't impact) another person.  And it is also hard to remember that what you want/need and what you get are not always the same thing and that doesn't have to mean we are not loved and appreciated.  The trick, though, is remembering what I am and what someone is, that they are two different things, and attempting to change a person is not an option.  We have control of ourselves, so we must focus on our own actions and reactions.

It is always interesting to me that in the middle of our busy lives, we sometimes loose a little focus.  We forget to take the time to practice another person's love language.  We get angry when someone doesn't practice ours.  This short little entry is simply a reminder to take the time to remember each other, and love on your families and friends the way they need loved on.