By Kylie Clark
Ways to show someone you care
Caring for others might seem like a big deal, but it’s not. It’s an emotion that pours automatically from your inner self when you love a person and are concerned about their good health. You just want every good thing in the universe to fall on their path, the smiles to never leave their faces and the angels to never leave their sides.
You care for your partner, your family, and your friends but a few amongst us also care about animals, nature and other things which bring a smile on your face. However, caring is one thing and showing is another. It can be a challenge on its own especially when you are not an expressive person. But, let me tell you, showing that you care is not just important, it’s essential. If you do not display any care for the ones you love, they may get the impression that you do not acknowledge the efforts they put in for you. They won’t stop loving you, (never), but it discourages them from putting in efforts for you.
“Caring about others, running the risk of feeling, and leaving an impact on people, brings happiness”
– Harold Kushner
If the modern definition of ‘caring for a person’ may seem to include only bringing in ice-cream after a breakup or sticking to them like glue, let me clear it out, no it doesn’t. In fact, this is all superficial. The person who really cares for you does it quietly all the time, not by playing the drums and showing his affection only once in a blue moon.
There are small ways in which you can show someone that ‘you care’. And mind it, these are not just two words, they carry the burden of all the emotions bottled up in a person.
Small gestures to show someone that you care.
“It’s not about how much you do, but how much love you put into what you do that counts.” – Mother Teresa
1. Care starts at home. Help them in their laundry or dishwashing sometimes.
2. If they often drive you around, consider giving them a break and take the wheel occasionally.
3. Cook their favorite meals randomly every now and then.
4. Talk to them every day. Let them know how often you think about them.
5. There is no better way to show that you care than surprising them. When you surprise your family, friends or partner with gifts or planned outings, they are bound to feel loved and cared about.
6. Care about their preferences and dislikes. For example, you could go to their favorite restaurant or maybe wear a t-shirt of their favorite color!
7. Encourage their interests and hobbies. Be supportive of their passion even when others decide to stand against it.
8. Make hangout plans with them. Make their company feel wanted.
9. Remember dates and events which are important to them. There’s nothing like a person who understands the value of a day particularly special for you.
10. Listen to their problems. Just listen, quietly, without throwing in your experiences and opinions, because sometimes, you just need an ear to vent out.
11. Do not force your opinion on them. Everyone has different approaches to a problem. Just because theirs is different, doesn’t mean they are wrong.
12. Cheer them up on a bad day with a favourite treat or a bottle of wine.
13. Scold them when they make major mistakes.
“Only the person who loves has the right to reprove and scold”
– Ivan Turgenev
14. Defend them in public. If they are wrong, make them understand, but never rebuke them before anyone. It shatters their self-respect and the belief of relying on you.
15. Acknowledge the efforts they take to make you happy, or your life more comfortable. It pays them for all the pains they have undertaken for you.
16. Don’t fight for the remote. It might be a change the size of a pea, but a change that doesn’t go unnoticed.
17. Confide in them. Be vulnerable and open up to them.
18. Accompany them to a movie or show which might not interest you much, but is surely fascinating to them.
19. If you are ever making them lunch, slip a note in, telling them how much you love and care for them.
20. Buy tickets to a concert or game which has their favourite band or team playing.
21. Slip into their shoes for a day. Give them a break and complete all of their chores at home, giving them time to relax.
22. Take them out for surprise midnight drive around the city. Buy ice-cream and walk under the stars.
23. Bake a cake yourself, instead of buying one on their birthday.
24. Remind them of how important and beautiful they are, when self-confidence hits a downward slope.
25. Don’t get distracted while they are speaking. Keep the phone away and take interest in what they have to say.
26. Smile. It does what it has to – fills them with cheerfulness and enthusiasm.
When you show someone that you love them and are ready to stand by them come what may, it strengthens the bond you share with that person.
If your relationship with someone dear is going on a rocky road, try implementing these ideas in your daily life. These gestures, however small they might be, are infused with your true emotions and they hit the emotional spot in the person who experiences them. New Years’ is round the corner and I hope the year ahead brings out the concerned, caring side of you for all those worthy of your affections!
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Previously published on themindsjournal
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Talk to you soon.
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