How to Express Love

How to Express Love
There are so many ways to express love that just picking a few to write about was difficult.
Expressing love doesn't just mean telling your boyfriend that you love him–you can express love to your dog, your parents, your close friends, or anyone you feel close to.
Here are four categories of “ways to share love” that you can use the next time you want to show your appreciation.
Respect
Showing love means showing respect. People like to know that you think their values and their beliefs are important. People also like to be thanked for things they do, especially the little things. Showing someone respect is a perfect way of expressing your love without saying it. Thank your spouse for putting gas in the car or give your best friend a hug for sharing her snack with you. Yes, those are both very small things, but showing appreciation and respect is a way of showing love. Here are some other ideas for expressing love through respect:

• Always say “Please” and “Thank You”
• Listen and respond when someone talks to you
• Tell someone “I appreciate it when you . . .”

Affection

How to Express Love

Love requires physical and mental affection to really blossom. Physical affection is easy–give lots of hugs, kiss your lovers everyday, share some kind of physical touch with those that you love. “Mental affection” is harder to pin down. It can be a running joke between an old married couple, a game of wordplay between friends, or just the sharing of wild ideas and theories between friends. Affection is a great way to cement the love between two people. Other ways to show affection include

• Pat a friend on the back — sounds cheesy, but it works
• Give back and shoulder rubs
• Hold hands with a friend while you walk together

Gifts
While gifts are considered the lowest form of love, sometimes the right gift is the perfect answer to a love problem. Always honor a birthday with a gift, even if it is small or hand-made. Anniversaries are perfect for gift-giving, and holidays offer plenty of gift-love opportunity. The best gifts, by far, are the “just because” gifts. Thinking about a good friends of yours? Buy that friend a flower ( deliver roses maybe?) or a nice lunch. People love to be given tangible things to show love. Here ares some more gift ideas:

• Buy your friend a book you know they'll love
• Buy something sexy for a lover
• Buy a friend a drink at the bar
• Gift your parents a night on the town

Time
The most expensive gift and the dearest way to show love is to share your time with a person. Time is the one commodity we all have too little of, and this great equalizer can be the most difficult part of sharing love with a person. Showing someone you want to spend time with them shows that you love and respect them more than any other expression of love. You can spend fifteen minutes with someone asking them to tell you a story about their life, or spend an entire week with a person helping them clean up and re-arrange their house. It doesn't matter how big the gift of time as long as you give it in earnest and spend it with them, expressing and receiving love. Some ways to spend time with a loved one:

• Take a road trip to a concert in another state
• Make hot chocolate and watch old movies
• Cook a meal together

Expressing love doesn't just mean saying “I love you” — although that is important as well. Expressing love can take the form of a handwritten note, a “thank you”, or an elaborate gift given at just the right time. Start expressing love in little ways now and I guarantee the ones you love will know how you feel about them forever.