Thich Nhat Hanh: The Most Precious Gift

When you love someone, the most precious gift you can make to him or her is your true presence. That is why you have to practice in such a way that you are there. You are there one hundred percent and you look at him or her, and you say, 
“Darling, I am really here for you.” 
That is the greatest gift that we can make to our most beloved one. 
But this is not only a statement. 
You know a mantra is not a statement. A mantra is something you utter out of reality—that means you have to be there one hundred percent in order for what you say to become a true mantra. 
So in order to be really there you need one minute or two of practice—you breathe in:
“Breathing in, I am calm, breathing out, I smile. Breathing in, I am really here, breathing out, I’m really here.” 
You do that a few times, and suddenly you are really there. It’s wonderful. You are not caught with your problems, you are not caught with your projects, you are not caught by the future, or by the past. 
You are really there, available, to the person you love. 
Then when you are sure that you are truly there—body and mind together—you go in the direction of the person you love, and looking at him or her mindfully, knowing that that person is really there and you are there, you smile and you say, 
“Darling, I am here for you, I am really here for you.” 
  

~Thich Nhat Hanh