My Different Expressions of Love

The most common expression of love is gift-giving. Do you agree? We go out of our way to secure gifts for the people we love during special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas, and valentines. I believe the reasoning behind the act is to make our loved ones feel special and loved. I, for one, love giving gifts every once in a while. But, I usually express my love for the people I care about through the following:

1. Encouragement. Whatever challenges or life stages a loved one goes through, I do my best to encourage through positive words and motivation. I believe the knowledge that someone is cheering them on could help keep their morale up and strengthen their courage. 
2. Appreciation. Knowing that they are appreciated for who they are or what they do means so much to most people. Just like words of encouragement, appreciation may serve as fuel to strive harder and move further. So, I make it a habit to tell the people I love and care about that I appreciate them as often as possible.   
3. Service. If performing a task to alleviate another person’s stress or lessen their burden is not the best expression of love, I do not know what is. Despite having a lot on my plate, I always try to help a loved one (usually my wife) with their tasks. 
4. Time. With a usually busy schedule, time is the most limited resource. Despite my struggle to fit all the tasks in my waking time, I always do my best to spend time with my loved ones, even just online. It is my way of letting them know they are not alone.
5. Knowledge. Since I am a lifelong learner, I always acquire new knowledge and skills from training events and other learning materials to grow and develop as a person and trainer. Whenever I experience a significant change from applying my learning, I do my best to impart my knowledge to the people I love so that they may also experience it.  

Whether my loved ones feel my love and care through these expressions or not, I am not sure. What I know is that when other people give any of these to me, I feel special, cared for, and loved. 

How about you? How do you express love to other people?

(Photo by Engin Akyurt from Pexels)