Potential Magazine October 2013 | Page 14

happy+healthy life skills college 101 life skills life skills tips & advice trends love languages resources Learn a Language for Life Success scholarships How do you make a family member or co-worker feel valued and encouraged? Teach your child these five languages, and they’ll go far in life and in relationships. parent to parent According to the book by Gary Chapman,  “The 5 Love Languages,” different people feel loved in different ways. You may verbally praise someone, but they don’t feel very valued. It could be that you need to speak their specific “love  language.” Here is a quick rundown of Chapman’s five ways to communicate value, encouragement and love to others. Quality Time Spending time with the person working on a project (changing a tire, homework, etc.) or just taking time to grab a quick lunch. Words of Affirmation Literally giving someone praise, telling others in front of them specific things they are good at and how you value them. Acts of Service Washing their car, making dinner or doing an errand for them. Giving Gifts Wrapping a note on one of their favorite candy bars or other small tokens of appreciation. Physical Touch A hug or a pat on the back. How Do You Love? The best way to determine someone’s love language is to ask them questions like, “How do you know that your parents love you? How do they show it?” You can also often tell by looking at the way they show others love. Learning to recognize how to show others you love and value them and sharing this knowledge with your teen will ensure you enjoy a more successful parentchild relationship and lead to more successful relationships for you both with other family members, neighbors, friends and co-workers. Take our Love Languages Quiz at www.potentialmagazine.com. 14 14 A Bad Translation: If your love language is Acts of Service, you tend to show others that you love them by working yourself to death. However, if your daughter’s love language is Words of Affirmation, she won’t feel loved by all the projects; she’ll just wonder why you work all the time and don’t have time to talk to her. www.potentialmagazine.com