Yesterday while I was working from home, a paper plane flew at me. It was so colorful and to admire it even more, I opened it. Inside it read, I Love You, Mommy.
I was all warm inside. It wasn’t any special occasion. That did not prevent my daughter from expressing her love for me. This got me thinking about how often we keep our emotions bottled in our hearts and heads. We do not express affection and love.
We Convey Hurt More Easily Than Expressing Love
I believe it is important to say it… say the positive things (affection or love) that you feel about a person. A lot of times we are very vocal about accusing people. We don’t hesitate to tell people when they have hurt us. How could you forget to wish me on my birthday? Why haven’t you called me for so long? You weren’t there when I won the award. You didn’t help me clean the room. However, when it comes to compliments or positive feelings, we hold back.
I have done this many times. I’ve never told my mom that to me she’s the best cook in the whole world. I’ve never told her that I admire her for having done so much in her career, while always being there for me. I’ve never told my sister that I practically envy her for being such a voracious reader and knowing so much about so many things. I’ve never told my aunt that I admire her for having touched so many lives. I’ve never told her that when I am in trouble, I feel very comfortable asking her for help (almost like it’s my right to ask her for help).
Why Do We Hold Back Expressing Love?
We hardly express positive emotions. We do not express our affection and love. Holding these emotions back does not add any value, while expressing them creates happiness. So, why do we do that? 
Sometimes we look for the right moment to express our affective and love.
Sometimes we feel we have expressed it already.
Sometimes we believe the person already knows how we feel.
I believe today that we should express it anyway even with the assumption that the person already knows. Every moment is right to express a positive emotion. And we should express it every time we feel it.
So, make that call or write a quick email… maybe just saying – “I think you are fabulous” or “I love your smile” or “I feel lucky to have you in my life.”
Wonderdul Writeup!
Love.
thanks for the encouraging words, Sajith… hope you keep coming back
hmmm
to be true, i’ve been thinking abt this fr sum time now.
n yes, i’ve made amends too. and i’ll continue to do so.
people in my life r much much more important than the issues in our lives.
and hurt, howsoever strong is an issue and shud never take precedence over the person behind it.
thanks for sharing.
a brave article indeed.
I love this part, Adee – “and hurt, howsoever strong is an issue and shud never take precedence over the person behind it.”
So often we get caught up in the events and forget about the person. We get so involved with how we are feeling that we become closed to what another person is feeling.
Fabulous post Priya. Kids are really good at expressing their true feelings, their actions say it all. We really need to learn from them and not hide our emotions.
Expressing love actually spreads more love. Take the simple example of expressing affection towards your mother. Often, we do not realize how precious the food she cooks is. That food has an ingredient you won’t find anywhere – that ingredient is love. Just telling her that the food she cooks can spread love and communicate your affection towards her.