What Does Love Mean?

A group of researchers asked children between the ages of four and eight years old, "What does love mean?" The answers that the children gave were quite profound and insightful. I have shared some of them below, but I encourage you to ask your children, grandchildren, and even other adults this question this season to remind us of what it is all about.
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• ​"When my grandmother got arthritis, she couldn't bend over and paint her toenails anymore. So my grandfather does it for her all the time, even when his hands got arthritis too. That's love."  Rebecca - age 8
• "Love is what makes you smile when you're tired." Terri - age 4
• "Love is what's in the room with you at Christmas if you stop opening presents and listen." Bobby - age 7 
• "Love is when Mommy gives Daddy the best piece of chicken." Elaine - age 5
• "During my piano recital, I was on a stage and I was scared. I looked at all the people watching me and saw my daddy waving and smiling. He was the only one doing that. I wasn't scared anymore." Cindy - age 8
• And the final one...Author and lecturer Leo Buscaglia once talked about a contest he was asked to judge. The purpose of the contest was to find the most caring child. The winner was a four year old child whose next door neighbor was an elderly gentleman who had recently lost his wife. Upon seeing the man cry, the little boy went into the old gentleman's yard, climbed onto his lap, and just sat there. When his Mother asked what he had said to the neighbor, the little boy said, "Nothing, I just helped him cry."

If we approach this holiday season looking for examples of love, I am sure that we will be surprised and moved at what we see around us. In life, we get more of what we look for and focus on--let's choose love.

For the complete article that this blog was based on:
www.dailygood.org/story/3260/what-does-love-mean-how-4-8-year-old-kids-describe-love-ladan-lashkari/

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