Touch

Sometimes it's better to put love into hugs than to put it into words.  -Unknown

For those of you who are familiar with the 5 love languages, you are well aware of the impact of physical touch as a way of communicating love.  For those who are not familiar with it, let us use the obvious.  When an infant is born, the first thing the doctors/nurses do is rush the baby to lay on its Mother.  This physical touch is the first step of the mother/child bond. 

Today we will discuss physical touch as a form of affection and its impact on yourself and others.  Obviously there is physical contact for other reasons than affection (attention and aggression--shout out to all those who know that training), but we are going to focus on how you can use the power of human touch to do good, not evil. 

As I think about my typical day and the various forms of touch that I have, they are many.  I often "pound it" with my clients as a form of positive reinforcement.  I may pat someone on the back or the head.  I may give a handshake to someone as a congratulations.  I may hug a friend as we greet, or depart, or even to to communicate that I care and am here to be a support with whatever hardships that individual is experiencing.  I may snuggle with my favorite 5 year old boy to communicate my love for him. 

We all have had memorable forms of physical contact with others--a situation in which that contact impacted you for a moment or for a lifetime.  Consider how influential that moment was for you.  Last week, we talked about the power of the spoken word to somebody.  Consider this another tool to help motivate or reinforce others, as well as to nourish your soul.  Think about it--have you ever given/received a hug that was  not equally reciprocated?  Not often, unless you as a kid you were forced to hug great aunt Florence and she smelled like old ladies so you kept a safe distance within the hug.

I always chuckle when I hug my 5 year old autistic nephew as I am hugging to show love--and he is hugging to sniff my hair (and yes, I sniff his in return).  I feel renewed when I'm in a race and a stranger offers a high five--it gives me the power to keep going those next few steps that seem like miles.  And is there anything better than a long, tight hug to communicate love and affection with somebody whom you care about? 

Today, I challenge you to seek out an individual who would benefit from some form of physical affection/physical touch.  Communicate to that person through a hug, a "pound it," a high five, a kiss.  Share with us here about how your affection impacted someone else--or even how you were impacted by it.  Take some time to reflect upon it and how you can continue to implement this into your life.  Have you used a hug, rather than words, to communicate love to someone today?  I have--and it was a more effective way to express it than any words I could've found in that moment.