Love languages

​Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch are apart of the 5 love languages. A love language simply means the way in which you like to recieve and give love. Each person has a primary love language. A characteristic summary of each love language is as follows:

Acts of service: This person feels loved when others do things for them. Folding laundry, running errands, cooking and lightening the load for this person makes them feel special.

Quality time: This person feels loved when uninterrupted time is spent. Spending time with this person one on one with no outside interruptions will mean the world to them!

Recieving gifts: This person has a giving spirit and loves to give and recieve gifts. Monetary amount does not matter. This person uses gifts as a symbol or token of love. 

Physical touch: This person likes to holds hands, hug, or kiss. This person feels connected and close when they are in contact with another physically. 

Words of affirmation: People in this category feel loved when they are built up by kind words. Compliments are the way to this person’s heart!

What is your love language and how does that influence the ways in which you interact with others?

Find out your love language at http://www.5lovelanguages.com

“Dear younger me”

The lyrics of the MercyMe song, dear younger me, are inspiring. How many of us have said to ourselves something to the effect of,”if I knew then what I know now.” We ponder how our lives would be different or the ways in which we could change our past. We select an age or moment in our lives that we could go back to and shift things around. We create these images in our mind of a “better today” because we changed our yesterday.

 However, every decision made in life shapes you into the person you are today. Living with regret over something that cannot change is a heavy burden. Regret can lead to shame, guilt, and depression.When we blame ourselves for our past there is a deep loss that happens.

 A metaphor for the ebb and flow of life I like to use is that we are like diamonds. Diamonds are formed deep within the earth after a combination of high temperature and pressure. In life one may go through situations that seem intense and rough. However, once you make it through the pressure you come out a better person. 

MercyMe’s song talks about going back in time and speaking to a younger version of himself. Through the course of the song you can see how the singer is empowered and able to move forward from his past. The song takes us through the singers journey from regret into redemption. In the beginning of the song he thinks over the heartache in his life and all the things he should say to prevent them. However, by the end of the song he is empowered and states he would have never been the person he is now if he had not gone through his experiences. By speaking of his past he was able to gain insight into the positive ways his experiences created who he was today.

” Every mountain, every valley, through each heartache you will see, every moment brings you closer to who you were meant to be. Dear younger me, dear younger me, you are free indeed.” -MercyMe  (dear younger me).

I think this is a beautiful depiction of life experiences. We cannot go back in time and change our past. However, we can learn from the mistakes we have made and help others who may be going in the same direction we did.  Do not let your past define you. You can’t rewrite your past, but you can take control of what is written in your future. Let your past prepare you not define you.

How have you let regret of your past influence your life? What are some ways your negative past experiences have positively shaped you today?