Sometimes what starts as a silly little thing becomes life-changing. Not life-changing in the dramatic way we’ve come to use that term, but life-changing in the way we view and interact with the everyday world.
If I remember correctly, this particular silly little thing began one ordinary evening. I made my husband’s favorite cereal treats for him to snack on as he watched a movie.
This wasn’t something I did because I was bored. In order to make the snack I had put down the book I was reading, which was special and extraordinary since THIS is pretty much my book-reading theme song.
“That,” I said, as I handed him the deliciously gooey flakes, “is what love looks like.”
We both smiled (which was my intention). It was meant to be humorous.
But as I started saying it more often (both out loud and to myself) it subtly began to change my perception.
I don’t find laundry particularly stimulating, but a basketful of clean and matched teenage boys’ socks? That’s what love looks like.
Like counting blessings, remembering why we do the tedious and less-fun things in life lightens the burden.
Helping with dishes on a homework-heavy school night? Making a complicated dinner because it’s someone’s favorite? Getting up every few hours at night with a sick child? That’s what love looks like.
And a magical thing happens when you start acknowledging what love looks like when you’re putting it into action. You also start noticing the love-in-action that’s directed toward you.
A shoulder (or foot) massage after a really rough day. Dinner in the crockpot when you get home from work. An “I’m sorry” dish of blossoms beautifully arranged as a peace offering. The last Reese’s peanut butter cup. Italian chocolate. DATE NIGHT. That’s what love looks like.
And it’s incredibly beautiful.
The phrase is now commonly heard in our house. It still makes us smile because it’s funny. But it also makes us smile because it’s true, and that makes us deeply happy.
In a world full of movies and television and books and internet that create strange and sometimes unrealistic expectations for love we have a constant reminder of what love really looks like. And that is not a silly little thing at all.
Today, I hope you’ll be happy to know that love looks like a fun little “This is what love looks like” printable. You can use it for gift tags, or to leave on pillows, or in a lunchbox. You can use it in your gratitude journal as you add a line about what love looked like that day. You can even use it to embellish a scrapbook page or two.
Click the image to the right. Right click the full-sized image and “Save As” to save it to your computer. I used a 1.5 inch and 2 inch Fiskars circle punch and a scalloped circle punch from EKSuccess for the tags featured in this article. You can also hand-cut the tags along the grey cutting lines. The hearts on this printable are available in a digital art kit at CuddlyBuddly.com.
