9 Ways to Show You Care 

*Collaborative post

 

In the fast paced modern, where everyone is glued to their phones – either binging on the latest must watch series or busy scrolling through Facebook – its quite easy to forget to show your loved ones how you feel about them.  

 

9 Ways to Show You Care 

Sometimes things can change in your life that are completely out of our control – moving homes or jobs can cut people out of our lives, and starting a family suddenly takes up most of our time. With so little free time we prioritise with more selfish activity, and before we know it, we have completely lost touch with people. 

I am guilty of this more than most, and I’m now striving to be a better person to those people I care about in my life. So, I’ve created this list of 9 ways to show someone you really care about them, and I hope it helps others as much as it has helped me. 

Check In 

Make sure you are checking in with your friends and family, especially the ones you don’t see regularly. Whether it is a phone call, text or message on Facebook, make sure you ask them how they are doing. 

Share 

It’s important to share with your friends and family. Let them know about what you’ve been up to, anything you’ve been struggling with or have enjoyed.  

Listen 

Don’t focus too heavily on yourself though. If you want to create a bond it is much more important to listen. But it shouldn’t just be listening for the sake of it, we should be giving our full attention, what is called active listening. 

Get them to open-up by asking questions about their day, their job, what they want, what they think needs to change in their life. 

When they tell you about important events that are coming up – remember them! Then make sure you follow up at the time and ask them how everything went. 

Support 

By listening to your friends or family, you will be able to notice immediately when they are down. This is then your cue to support them. Get them to talk through their strains or stresses, even if it is something you are not interested in – for example an issue with their job. Most people wouldn’t make the effort, and so by showing your support you are setting yourself apart and truly showing you care.  

When they are down you should also try to cheer them up again – surprise them with their favourite treat after they’ve had a bad day – it could be a bottle of wine, chocolates or food. You can also send them funny videos or pictures to take their mind of things. If you need inspiration just go on reddit for tonnes of new content every day. 

Involve yourself 

Take an interest in their interests. Watch their favourite shows with them. Go to the movies or go and see a band that they like, even if you don’t. At worst you would have spent some quality time with them, but you might even start taking an interest yourself. 

Plan with them 

If you do develop a shared interest, you should nurture it. Make it your thing together. If you both love a box set, watch it together. If you both love working out, then go to the gym together. Don’t skip ahead without them or work out separately just because it is more convenient for you.  

By showing that you want to go out of the way to do things together shows that you are putting them first.  

Tell them you care 

Probably the most overlooked, and maybe even the hardest at time, is to tell them you care. Saying thank you, giving praise where it is deserved and giving genuine compliments are all ways you should be verbalising your feelings. 

Treat them with food 

Everyone knows that food is the best way to someone’s heart. There are tonnes of ways you an show you care through food. Here are my top tips: 

• Cook their favourite meal – even if you don’t like it. 

• Make them breakfast in bed – stick to just partners with this one, might be a bit weird turning up at your friend’s house at 7 a.m. with a shopping bag! 
• Save them the last slice of cake. 
• Give them the biggest portion. 
• Make them a cup of tea without asking. 
• If you make two of something – it could be cocktails, cups of tea or sandwiches – give them the better one! 

Be spontaneous 

It is expected that you will treat your loved ones on occasions like Christmas or valentine’s day. The nature of the holidays makes the gesture that little bit less special. By trying to be more spontaneous it shows that you are thinking of this person all the time, and you are spoiling them because you want to, not because you must!  

Get them flowers or buy them a gift out of the blue. It doesn’t need to be an extravagant gift, just something to show that you are thinking of them. I like to buy personalised gifts as they show you have spent a bit of time thinking of them. Custom Gifts is a great website for this.  

There’s plenty of free alternative:  

• Give them a hug! Hugs are good for you – so you should be giving out as many as you can, providing it is appropriate – don’t go hugging your postman.  

• Run them a bath – again just do this for your partner as your friends might think you are weird. 
• Tidy up for them – if you friend has just cooked for you, jump up and do the dishes. Don’t ask, just do them!