To Think A Thought

2: Love Is A Much Better Word

LOVE. It is such an enjoyable word to use, whereas "ugly" and "hate" are words that only tear others and ourselves down. So why don't we use "love" as much as we use the negative words? Why isn't our vocabulary built up with beautiful words of happiness and positivity? When we look at another person, our thoughts should be kind and uplifting. Would you want someone thinking negatively towards you when they haven't even met you yet?

When we go throughout our days, lots of negative thoughts can plague our minds. You might notice that negative words such as "hate" "rude" "ugly" "can't" "annoying" and many others may cross your mind throughout your day. You might be mad at a sibling or friend, or maybe you saw your hair in a mirror after walking through strong winds outside, or a difficult task was at hand and you used "can't" which only discouraged you further. Obviously, we can't completely avoid these words. They exist for a reason and I respect that. I use them, too, much more than I probably should. But it has come across my mind that just because they're appropriate for a sentence we are saying/thinking doesn't mean we need to always use them. I think we should try using them less. We should try to narrow down the number of times negative words want to come out of our mouths or cross through our minds.

Hence, love. We need to use the word love more often! It could just be when we are saying that we loved the new Marvel movie, or that we loved the biology lesson at school. It doesn't matter. Using love instead of hate makes the sentence much more enjoyable to hear.

I am not saying that we are all awful for saying we hate something and etc because we do. We hate things. Maybe a sport, a food, a subject at school, or a bad movie, but we all hate things! I'm just saying maybe we should not focus on that as much. Move on from the movie, just avoid the food (if you don't want to be polite and eat it. Guilty here. xD), and don't go to the sport game. And maybe - maybe - we can use the word "dislike" if we absolutely want to put our opinion in on something we ha...I mean dislike very much. Even though dislike is not very positive either, it doesn't bring as bad as an effect that "hate" does. Trust me. I know from personal experience.

But like I previously said, I'm not saying to never use negative words. They're going to come out of our mouths, whether it is on purpose or an accident. It's natural.

Now, back to the word love. Just thinking about its meaning makes me smile. It is a beautiful word! When I hear two people tell each other that they love the other, it brings a warm feeling to my heart. I believe that this amazing word should be used more often, but maybe that is just me.

I also want to talk a little about using love through actions. The word love is obviously very incredible to use and makes people - hopefully, yourself included - happy, but expressing that word through actions is also a positive, beautiful, and sometimes fun way to get your message across creatively or plainly. Through your actions, you can show your love to a person, and it can be through the simplest act of service. But what you might call a "simple act of service" may mean so much more to someone else!

Just a short story to tell; my mom and dad went to a store together one day to do some shopping and they held hands like they usually do as they approached the store together. But before they got to the entrance, a man by his truck called them over. Thinking he needed help with something, they went over to see what he needed. But he didn't need help with anything. In fact, all he wanted to do was tell them how great it was to see a couple holding hands because it is so rare to see people holding hands in public. And I agree with this man! Unless you count those teenagers who hold hands, giggle, and flirt together (and they're cute. Don't get me wrong), you rarely ever see a couple holding hands in public. I love the example my parents are to both myself, my siblings, and those around us as an example of love. And that man saw and appreciated their simple, normal gesture of love towards each other.

Showing your love through actions and gestures is great. But I don't want to make you think that this means saying "I love you" is too plain and unoriginal. Those you love and who love you want to hear those words! They know inside that you love them, but hearing it come from you through your own voice in those three simple but powerful words is one of the best ways to get the message across! We need to lace our vocabulary with love. Love, love, love, love, love! It lifts others up, whether we see it or not. And I hope that when someone tells you that they love you, it lifts your spirits as well.

The word "love" has more meaning and affect on people than we take for granted. It is a word with good power instead of bad. It arouses smiles, not frowns. It brings happiness, not discouragement. If we only realize how powerful this one word is when we put it into a sentence, we can use this to spread the love and not the hatred and anger that is so common today.

I love each of you so much! I hope you know that there are people around you who love and appreciate you. And I hope that you can look at yourself in the mirror and say to yourself "wow. I really love this person I am!"

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YOUR CHALLENGE: Telling someone you love them can make their entire day. So, if you don't already, tell your family members that you love them every day. Whether in person, on the phone, or through a simple text. And don't forget to tell yourself too!