Valentine’s Day is shortly approaching and whenever I think of this day, I can’t help but think of love languages.
What’s a love language? It’s a way to express and experience love. Gary Chapman wrote the book the 5 love languages and it was an eye-opener for my own relationship.
According to Chapman, there are 5 different ways:
- Words of affirmation
- Quality time
- Receiving gifts
- Acts of service
- Physical touch
People often have a few languages, some more dominant than others. It was eye-opening for my relationship because I have different ones from my husband. My love languages are quality time and acts of service and my husband’s love languages are physical touch and words of affirmation. We express love and experience love in different ways.
When you start a new relationship, we often express love in all of the ways but as a relationship matures, we default to our own languages. If these don’t match our partner’s, then they can start to feel that the other does not care. It takes conscious work to express love in the way your partner needs.
Start by becoming aware of what your own love languages are and then you can do it for your partner, kids, and loved ones around you. That way, you are better equipped to express love in a way that they will be able to understand and receive it. (1)
Happy Valentine’s Day!
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