Love: arguably the most powerful emotion and experience in life. Love transcends all ethnicity, race, gender, age, status, and wealth. Love breaks down barriers and rebuilds brokenness. But love does not simply just ‘happen.’
Love is not like the newspaper that gets delivered each day. Love requires effort. It is not only a noun but also a verb. The novelist Anaïs Nin explains this truth beautifully, “Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don’t know how to replenish its source.”
In a world that is too often driven toward obtaining selfish power, we have become blind to the profound power we possess in selflessly loving another person. You may not change the world, but you will certainly change their world. Here are 7 reasons to tell someone they are loved today:
1. Perfect Timing.
You have no idea what someone may have just gone through. Think of how amazing it was the last time you randomly received a word of encouragement from someone else. You probably responded in surprise and said, “You have no idea how much I needed to hear that.” There are so many awful things that can unfold in the course of a day. Some simple words of love and encouragement may be the exact remedy they need.
2. Unbreakable Bonds.
Oxytocin, otherwise referred to as the love hormone, is released by the brain when a mother is nursing her child, and when two people hug. The neurochemical is responsible for trust-building, bonding, and empathy. If you want to strengthen your relationship with someone, expressing care and love toward them is the key.
3. Remove Scars.
A lot of people hate sushi. Until they try it. Then they become the biggest sushi evangelist in the world. Letting someone know you love them has a very similar effect. There are people from very tough upbringings, never told that they are loved. You can bring healing to their soul.
4. Energy Boost.
If only the marathon runner craving that ‘second-wind’ knew how to put love in a bottle, he would be sprinting across the finish line. In a fascinating study on activities that boost our energy, researchers Janet Nikolovski, PhD, and Jack Groppel, PhD, asked people to report their energy levels on a scale from 1–10 after a range of stimuli. While the popular coffee scored a 6.8, talking to a love one scored a 7. If someone is looking physically worn out, this is extra reason to have a loving chat with them.
5. Better Than Drugs.
No kidding. Dopamine is one chemical that is released by the brain when someone is in love. It is also what is released when someone takes a hit of cocaine. Expressing love is certainly far better than taking drugs—the same euphoric experience without the awful side effects! Give someone a hit of dopamine today by telling them they are loved.
6. Stress Less.
Cortisol is the stress hormone that is released when we become anxious, frustrated, or worn out. Dr. Helen Fisher, an expert who studies the neurohormonal phenomena of love, highlights these great stress-relieving reasons to express love to someone, “Your brain floods with dopamine, which gives you focus, energy and optimism and those things can all be good to counter stress.”
7. Domino Effect
Want to set off an incredible chain reaction of love? Many people have been wronged and hold on to bitterness. By loving them you are subconsciously freeing them to pass that love on to others. Enable them to forgive and love as they are overwhelmed by love. Be the spark that sets things alight. Be the initiator and take the first step.
The Beatles were on to it when they sang that hit song All You Need Is Love. Indeed love is all you need to turn someone’s day around. Stop holding back and share a ton of love today!
Featured photo credit: Mother and her child enjoy the summer in park. Outdoors. via shutterstock.com
