A group of professional people posed this question to a group of four through eight year olds, "What does love mean?" The answers they got were broader and deeper than anyone could have imagined. See what you think:
"Love is that first feeling you feel before all the bad stuff gets in the way."
"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn’t bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That’s love."
"When someone loves you, the way they say your name is different. You know that your name is safe in their mouth."
"Love is when a girl puts on perfume and a boy puts on shaving cologne and they go out and smell each other."
"Love is when you go out to eat and give somebody most of your french fries without making them give you any of theirs."
"Love is when someone hurts you. And you get so mad but you don’t yell at them because you know it would hurt their feelings."
"Love is what makes you smile when you’re tired."
"Love is when my mommy makes coffee for my daddy and she takes a sip before giving it to him, to make sure the taste is OK."
"Love is what’s in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen."
"If you want to learn to love better, you should start with a friend who you hate."
"When you tell someone something bad about yourself and you’re scared they won’t love you anymore. But then you get surprised because not only do they still love you, they love you even more."
"There are two kinds of love: Our love and God’s love. But God makes both kinds of them."
"Love is when you tell a guy you like his shirt, then he wears it everyday."
"Love is like a little old woman and a little old man who are still friends even after they know each other so well."
"During my piano recital, I was on a stage and scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn’t scared anymore."
"My mommy loves me more than anybody. You don’t see anyone else kissing me to sleep at night."
"Love is when mommy gives daddy the best piece of chicken."
"Love is when your puppy licks your face even after you left him alone all day."
"I let my big sister pick on me because my Mom says she only picks on me because she loves me. So I pick on my baby sister because I love her."
"Love cards like Valentine’s cards say stuff on them that we’d like to say ourselves, but we wouldn’t be caught dead saying."
"When you love somebody, your eyelashes go up and down and little stars come out of you"
"You really shouldn’t say ‘I love you’ unless you mean it. But if you mean it, you should say it a lot. People forget."
(Thanx for the post Ace!)
The innocence and sincerity of children - if only we could retain that as we age instead of becoming 5 to 6 foot assholes!
Wouldn't it be awesome if we could go through life with the simplicity of a child's perspective! Life simply gets in the way sometimes.
ReplyDeleteWhen you break through all the stuff, love has some fairly simplistic indicators -- acceptance, appreciation, and our wants for others.
Acceptance means seeing someone as 'ok' and having no particular desire to change them. Pretty simple, yea, but powerful as well. This is unconditional love, and doesn't mandate change when they step outside your preset parameters. That love becomes conditional, and gives way to evaporation of love when behaviors change.
Appreciation goes beyond acceptance and involves admiration for who they are, what they stand for, their humor, intelligence, the joy they bring and the companionship bestowed.
Wanting those we love to feel happy, safe, healthy, and fulfilled is an indicator of love. This feeling trickles through the emotional, physical, and mental aspects of our love.
Love is an action that is expressed. Time gets in the way, many times, for how we express our love outwardly for others. Expressions of love is given through our time, attention and focus.
Sounds simple....doesn't it!?!! If only the case.