Whew! We made it through another holiday season. Now that we’re in February, it’s time for to get in the mood for love or rather the many types of love.
As a woman, we wear many different types of hats – mother, daughter, sister, friend, counselor, etc. It’s only fitting that we have different types of love in our lives. Now, I’m not talking the types of love you find in the bible. Don’t get me wrong, I love the bible. I’m talking about the type of love you can’t quite put into words. Here let me give you some examples.
Self-Love
First up is a focus on yourself. Why is it that we put everyone and everything before ourselves? It’s because we’re great moms, right? I’m a work in progress when it comes time to this subject. My practice of self-love is to try and get regular massages, practice yoga, and try and steal a few quiet moments for myself each day. To me, self-kindness is a part of self-love. Being a part of a network of positive thoughts, messages, and people are the ways to be kind to me – to love myself.
Husband Love
I’ve been married for 7 years. At times it feels like 7 years while other times it feels like 70 years. Overall, marrying my husband was one of the best decisions of my life. Our marriage is filled with all types of love. Like recording-my-favorite-show-because-I-forgot type of love or I’ll-massage-your-back-while-we-watch-TV-together kind of love. Now that we have two kids, our love has evolved into I’ll-give-the-kids-a-bath-so-you-can-eat kind of love or I’ll-take-them-to-the-park-so-you-can-take-a-nap kind of love. Then there are days when you move into the other type of husband love, the restraint type of love. No, this is not anything kinky! This is when you restrain your “love” for sake of keeping the peace in your home. For example, the I’m-not-going-to-go-off-when-you-forget-to-put-your-dirty-clothes-in-the-hamper-instead-of-the-floor love. As you can see, there are good days and bad days.
Children Love
Now the love for my kids is special. Children are a gift, and my son and daughter mean the world to me. Just like anything, there is a spectrum of their love. As newborns, I was all about the I-want-to-kiss-and-cuddle-with-you-all-day-and-night type of love. Now that we are in the toddler phase, I sometimes have the woe is me love like I-carried-these-kids-for-nine-months-and-they-treat-me-this-way love. Toddlers really know how to test your limits and sometimes finding the love is hard during one of their many meltdowns or during the potty training phase. At times you need to dig down deep and remind yourself of those cute newborn days when your toddler has spilled red paint on your new rug.
Parent Love
Now the love I have for my parents is 100% strong. They are two of the most loving and caring people I know. But, I have a questioning type of love for them. Now that I’m a parent, the love for my parents includes how-did-you-raise-four-kids-and-maintain-your-sanity type of love. Normally when I see my parents interact with their grandchildren, I’m usual feel that how-come-you-didn’t-spoil-me-like-you-spoil-your-grandchildren-type of love. At times, the love turns to a more frustrated level, especially when the roles are reversed. Sometimes your own parents need tough love like I’m-going-to-schedule-your-doctor’s-appointment-because-I’m-tired-of-asking-you type of love. It’s funny how things change once you become an adult.
As you can see there many different types of love. This short list doesn’t come close to all the other different types of love for others in your life. The key is to balance the good with the bad so you can enjoy the I-love-my-life type of love!
This was great! You are right, love is not a single dimension act or feeling.
Thank you Catherine!