"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."

— Lao Tzu

There are many forms of expressing love to others and some come by it naturally whereas others find it hard to find the right words or actions to express their love toward another. For me, I’ve always been considered vocal and a sensitive soul so I find it very easy to express my love and devotion to others.

First and foremost, I express love to my immediate family. There is not a day that goes by that I do not tell my husband and my two sons that I love them. For my husband, it is something we do automatically every day when he is leaving the house for work. We tell each other that we love the other and give each other a kiss. We also do not go to bed without telling one another that we love each other.

For my children, I tell them frequently that I love them and let them both know that they’re my buddy, and I would do anything for them. My children are ages three and five so they are still impressionable and I want them to realize that no matter what happens their mommy will always love them.

I find this to be a very good way to start and end the day. I never want my last words to any family member to be something that wasn’t full of love so we make sure we do this daily.

You don’t have to necessarily have to say “I love you” to express your love to another either. I express my love for my sons in other ways, too.

When my five year old was born, my husband was going to college and I was the only one working. My mother and my mother-in-law watched him until my husband came home from school and finished any homework that he may have had for the day. I hated not being able to witness all of his “firsts” because I had to work, but when I came home from work I made sure I spent quality time with him before getting him ready for bed.

When I was pregnant with my youngest son, I was very fortunate that my husband was finished with his schooling at the time and gave me the opportunity to stay at home with my two year old and the newborn baby. It was my husband’s turn to show how much he loved our family by allowing me to stay home because it was something I wanted to do and missed out on those two years with our oldest. We are not well off, and money gets tight, but my husband does the best he can to provide for our family so I am able to stay home with our children.

My youngest will be starting preschool in August 2013 so I will be able to start looking for a job again to help my husband, but until then I’m enjoying spending time with my two sons and hearing my three year old say in his baby voice “I love you, Mommy.” makes every decision I ever made about staying home worth it.

I also do things out of love for my friends. During Christmas, I knew my best friend didn’t have a lot of money to buy their six month old a lot for Christmas. I also knew that if I offered to buy something they wouldn’t take it because they know I’m not made of money either. My solution to this was to go buy a few things that I thought would be helpful and box it up and take it to UPS and have it mailed from Santa. My friend has not brought this up to me so I am hoping they were pleasantly surprised from their small token from Santa.

I also try to pass down clothes, baby items, and toys that my sons have outgrown to my friends because I know everything is expensive and they can get some use out of it.

Sometimes it’s the simplest things in life that bring about the greatest joy, and I consider selfless acts of love to be the best expression of love that anyone can ever receive.

I hope everyone can take time out of their busy lives and reflect on what love is to them and how they treat others that are around them. I don’t just mean your family, but also friends, co-workers, and neighbors.

My mother always said when I was growing up that if I didn’t have anything nice to say I shouldn’t say anything at all. I’m sure a lot of you have heard that before too, but truly think about what you are saying to those around you because without you realizing it, others may be listening.

Sometimes we impact others without even knowing it. That’s what I mean by selfless acts of love. Do you enjoy baking? If so, why don’t you make a batch of something and share with your neighbor, or the older lady down the street who just lost her husband, and have a conversation with them. Simple acts of kindness show others that we are thinking of them and I’m sure you both would feel great about the act. What are you waiting for, go out and spread the love.