IS LOVE A FOREIGN LANGUAGE?

If you can't answer YES to all of the following questions....then love just might be a foreign language to you.
1. Do you know how to recognize when you are loved totally and unconditionally?
2. Do you know why it is important to love and be loved?
3. Are you aware of the ways you can demonstrate your love?

HOW DO YOU CREATE THE LANGUAGE OF LOVE?
Since love gives life, the language of love brings people into aliveness. Here are three simple ways to assure that you are using the language of love.

MAKE YOUR PRESENCE POWERFUL.
Acknowledge each person you meet. Give eye contact and use the person's favorite word - their name! This is music to their ears. Also give people your undivided attention. Listen and hear what they have to say. When was the last time someone really listened to you? Listening is loving.

BECOME QUIETLY SUPPORTIVE OF OTHERS.
Appreciate other people. Recognize their existence and presence. "Start where people are, not where you want them to be." "Move in and out of their world on their terms not yours." This is the best way to connect with people. They feel special when they know that someone is really appreciating where they are coming from.

LEARN THE SECRET OF BEING IMPORTANT.
You are only as important as your ability to be affirming. Give affirmation. An affirmation is a declaration to set in motion a way of being. Affirmation comes from the Latin "affirmare," and means to make firm. Thomas Kane, in his book Happy Are You Who Affirm says, "The healing touch of affirmation means I encourage persons to BE who they are, immaturity and shortcomings included, so that their potential may BE realized." Find qualities in people that serve them and give affirmation. For example, "Michael, you are a sensitive person and I congratulate you on how you help others." Be specific when giving affirmation. Give them freely, daily and then watch what happens!

NOTHING HAPPENS UNTIL A MEANINGFUL EVENT IS CREATED.
A stone falls into a pond and a circle begins to spread on the pond. It goes further and further until it hits the shore. And then a marvelous thing happens...it begins to return. How do you see the rest of your life? As a still pond with no love? Or a pond of circles going both ways? What a wonderful, warm way to exist.