Words of Affirmation

This morning as I was reading the 5 love languages of Teenagers - Gary Chapman many thoughts came into my mind. I had a flashback and all of a sudden I was this little girl at the age of twelve standing next to my father under the most beautiful African sky. The stars were shining bright, beautiful summers night, and there we were. That night my father had the most significante conversation with me, Once again, he made me feel loved, appreciated and let me know how much I mattered to him. He finished our conversation with these words:

"My princess, you can be anything you want to be, do you hear me? You can be anything you want to be".

He then huged me and we went into our house. This was the last time I saw him alive. The next day he passed away at the age of 42 victim of a heart-attack.

Through out the years, in my darkest hours, in my greatest fears I have hung onto those words of love, to those words of affirmation. To the many parents reading this post, I say with all love and respect: love your children, hug them, let them know how important they are to you, for you never know when it's the last time you are doing so.

Sometimes we tend to think that young kids don't need these conversations, I say they do. When you take the time to speak to your kids, when you take the time to tell them how much you care for them, how much you love them, they will open up to you and speak up when necessary.

All you need to do is to love so that later on in life they too will love...

Manuela Ribeiro

Life and Business Coach