Fran Chambers on love advice to a 10-year-old boy

When I was small, too young to really understand, my mother told me that there are many different types of love. Now that the previously unthinkable is happening and I'm slowly becoming my mother, this is my advice to you my son:

Love has many forms and comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. You will love different people for different reasons. Sometimes for a week, sometimes for a lifetime.

Always try to give love freely and without expectation. Ninety percent of the time you'll reap the benefits. The other 10 percent will hurt like hell, but one day you'll look back and realise how far you've come and how much you've learnt.

Don't be careless with other people's hearts and don't take shit from people who are reckless with yours. Learn to truly love yourself - for you are the light of my life.

This line from one of my favourite films of all time, Moulin Rouge, is exactly what I want to say to you: "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return."

Fran Chambers is an employee communications specialist, pie addict and travel lover. She lives in London. You can follow her on Twitter @frangipanish

This post is part of Not the Style Pages' SpeedBlog series. This is SpeedBlog1.