This past weekend, my parents organized a mini surprise party for my birthday with my family and friends. Being the gullible person I am, I had no idea it was being planned, which made the event so much more special.
Having something like this organized on my behalf really showed me how loved and appreciated I am. After everyone had left, I was talking to my dad and when I told him I appreciated him planning everything, he told me how I didn't need to tell him, he could see on my face how happy I was, that this was enough to express my appreciation.
This conversation had me thinking about actions and words and how it is that we can best make clear to our loved ones how much we care for them.
All I want is for the most important people in my life to know how much they mean to me.
I'm sure many of you feel the same. Don't you all just want your loved ones to understand how you feel about them?
Of course, I am of the belief that actions speak louder than words. Someone can tell you that they love you or that you're valued in their life, but if their actions work in contradiction to what they say, their words become meaningless.
Still, I find that in many of my closest relationships in my life, the actions precede the words. What I mean by this is, for people like my family members, we show each other our love for one another every day through our daily actions and things we do for each other.
Yes, I do tell my parents and brothers I love them, but those words are often found at the end of phone calls or in passing.
That is why I suggest now that we ought to be more vocal to our loved ones about how much they mean to us.
My family, and yours, deserve to know that nothing they do goes unnoticed, that their presence, wisdom, and characters are all so appreciated.
I felt so blessed by all the people I was able to spend last weekend with, and experienced a deep sense of gratitude that so many people had chosen to come together for me.
All my parents wanted was for me to feel loved, yet in doing so, they inspired me to remind them how much I love them.
This idea of vocalizing our appreciation applies to friends, too. I know especially for college students, we often find ourselves separated from friends, whether it be from our high school friends during the school year or our college friends during summer. In those times when you and your friends aren't together, a simple text or phone call to check in, to say, "hey, I love you and I'm thinking about you," can make all the difference.
This is something I try to do: If I'm going through photos or someone keeps coming to mind, I reach out to that person and remind them that I love them. I'd like to think that if someone is coming to mind, it might be because they might need some extra love.
As I mentioned in an earlier article, I've stopped living with regrets. I think talking to people about how much they mean to us correlates with this goal. Oftentimes, fear of judgment or seeming sappy or "sensitive" may hold us back from being so vocal about our feelings about others.
Yet if we choose to move past fear and be more open and expressive people, we may find it to feel more natural and fitting to tell others how much we love them.
I feel so grateful to be able to experience life with people who push me to grow, who bring me so much love and wisdom, who fill my life with laughter and smiles. You readers, I hope, have those people in your life too. For me, at least, I think these people I'm thinking of, the ones that make my days brighter, they deserve to know how much of an impact they have on me.
I'm going to start telling my loved ones how I feel about them more often, and I urge you all to, too. You never know what kind of a difference it could make in someone's life.
Actions are powerful, but so are words. Use them for your loved ones, it'll be worth it, I promise.
Talk soon,
Sam