By Amanda Pasciucco and Josh Cohen, Marriage and Family Therapists
When is the last time you said “I love you” to someone you care about?
In the wake of last week’s tragic events at “The Dark Knight Rises” premiere
in Colorado, we are reminded of the importance of sharing our appreciation to
people in our lives. At times like these, we remember that many lives are lost
too soon, and things are left unsaid. We cannot predict the future, so we must
live each day as if it is a gift and cherish those we care about.
Remember to say “I love you” to family members. Acknowledge these
special people in a way that values their significance in our lives. Parents,
children, and romantic partners are usually taken for granted. We tend to expect
them to act in a certain way based on their relation to us, and we forget to
view them as the blessings they are.
Show appreciation. We don’t need holidays such as Mother’s or Father’s
day, birthdays, or anniversaries to share our appreciation with the people who
we care about. We don’t need Hallmark to write out the words in a pre-written
card. All we need to do is reflect on the person who we love, and those feelings
and words that express what we feel for them will become accessible. When
thinking about people we love, we will realize that it is easy to verbalize our
emotions when we actually give ourselves time to think about it.
Think about it. Stop and think about the meaningful people in your
life. Acknowledge how much they actually mean to you. Think of at least one
sentence to tell them of your appreciation for them. It can be stating how lucky
you are to have them in your life, the way you appreciate their being, that they
brighten up your life, or you can simply say, “I love you.”
Amanda Pasciucco, M.A. MFT, is an individual, couple, and family therapist
with a private practice in Wilton, Connecticut. Currently, she is working on
publishing her first book. For more information, you can visit her website at
www.therapybyamanda.com
or follow her on twitter @TherapyByAmanda.
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