subject: Thoughts From The Box — "Why Not Just Give It Away?" [print this page] Thoughts From The Box "Why Not Just Give It Away?"
I don't know about you but I tend to sometimes resort to traveling when I need to clear my thoughts and refocus on my end goal. However, while traveling, I find myself becoming more inspired by the ideas I wanted to clear in the beginning.
On one particular trip, I traveled to California. I walked the campus of one of the most prestigious athletic institutions in the country. The layout of this school, classic architecture and beautiful city weather made it a good place for me to meditate and relax my mind. As I strolled in to the university's bookstore, the school colors-deep sky blue and sun gold-seemed to adorn every single t-shirt, trinket, and other piece of store apparel. My senses were captivated by this, but the reverie was briefly interrupted when I overheard a timeless poem from an old, deep voice belonging to a man known as the czar of college basketball coaches: "A bell is not a bell 'til you ring it. A song is not a song 'til you sing it. Love in your heart is not put there to stay. Love is not love 'til you give it away," he quoted. I later found out that the coach was reciting lines from the famous lyricist Oscar Hammerstein.
In this holiday season, we celebrate the birth of the One who imitated His Father's love by giving His life for our sins. Although giving up a life for a friend is the ultimate sacrifice, there are other ways to express your love for fellow human beings this season.
Bestselling author Dr. Gary Chapman introduced five ways to express love in his book 5 Love Languages. While Chapman tailors his messages to a variety of readers-from married couples, to singles and even to children-the fundamental foundation of love languages has remained the same: Affirmation of Words, Quality Time, Gifts, Acts of Service and Physical Touch. These, Chapman states, are the five languages of love. Although time is limited in these newsletters to explain what I read in Chapman's book, one thing I do remember is this: An individual's expression of love is what they usually want in return. I encourage you to get to know the love languages of your spouses, friends and even neighbors. For example, as far as physical touch goes, some people are looking for a good "holy" hug, as my father would say. However, before applying the love language of physical touch, please discern the situation and the relationship.
What I have learned in my short time on earth is that people are not just looking for material expressions of love this time of year. In fact, that's only one of five ways you can express your love, according Chapman's book. As a side note, I have found that I enjoy offering my writings as a gift of love to all of you, to affirm those in the kingdom. In return, I also love receiving your encouraging comments.
No matter how you receive "Thoughts From The Box," I hope these messages will encourage you to become what you are called to be. In closing, spend time learning how to give YOUR love away this holiday season, because conventional wisdom teaches us that giving love is the first logical step to getting it back.
Thank you for reading...
Happy Holidays!
Damien K. H. Nash, Founder & CEO
TNG Publishings, LLC
Author of...
How to Load Your Truck: One Box at a Time
Big Box, Little Box: How One Little Box Finds His Way
