When you love someone for a long time, it’s sometimes easy to forget to make that love obvious. It’s important to know your person’s love language, and how to show someone that you love them.
It’s always good to remind people of your love once in a while, even if it’s only through small gestures.
If you’re unsure of what to do for your loved one to remind them that you care, don’t worry. You’re in the right place.
How to Show Someone That You Love Them
While love may be consistent, busy lives and schedules can get in the way of making that love known and obvious. People can start to feel disregarded. There are ways to help mitigate this problem, both with gifts and non-gift gestures to remind people where they stand in your heart.
- Make a Special Meal
Especially if you’re not one to make meals, this can be a very special and loving gesture.
If your loved one has a favorite food, learn how to make it. With the internet, there are endless recipes online for pretty much any cuisine.
For an added bonus, serve it to them. Breakfast in bed is always a winner, and it will give your loved one a chance to sit back and relax.
- Reserve Time for the Two of You
Between friends and family, there’s rarely time to spare for one-on-one time. This time is important to “recharge” and get to know each other all over again.
Schedule out time just for the two of you and make it a priority. If you’re able, try to make it a regular event so that you both have something to look forward to. This is a great time to catch up and remind each other of your love.
Without time alone, it’s easy to grow apart. Make this a clear part of your schedule and don’t let other tasks get in the way of it.
- Leave the Phones Off
Sometimes people get a little too into their technology and lose sight of the outside world.
On average, people spend over three hours on their phones per day. That’s a lot. If you want to spend private time with your loved one, leave the phones off. If you must have it on, try to keep it on silent and out of reach.
Abandoning a loved one to look at a text or email isn’t an incredibly loving gesture.
- Give a Handmade Gift
Gifts don’t have to be expensive. You don’t have to be a professional artist to make something fantastic for your loved one. A fun craft or photo book would be a great addition to their gift collection, and it will come from the heart.
DIY gifts and culture are totally in, so join the movement.
- Do Something Helpful Without Being Asked
Is there anything that needs to be fixed? A car that needs to be washed? Maybe something that your loved one has been putting off for a while?
Don’t wait to be asked for help, just help.
Sometimes it’s nice to see that someone is going out of their way to help without having to be told what to do. Taking initiative like this is a very loving gesture that will be appreciated.
- Share an Activity They Love
We don’t all have the same interests, and that’s okay. Your loved one probably has lots of activities that they do without you. Would they be happier if you willingly got involved?
Doing an activity that they enjoy, even if it isn’t your favorite, shows them that you’re willing to make sacrifices and try new things. You might also find out that you actually enjoy that thing that you’ve been avoiding all this time.
- Send a Suprise to Work
There’s something special about sitting through a monotonous day of work and being surprised by a small gift arriving unexpectedly. This will improve the entire day of your loved one, and it’s a great way to show love.
- Do the Chores They Hate
Does your partner or family member hate doing the dishes? It’s a necessary task, so why don’t you take it over once in a while? This small gesture will show that you pay attention to their likes and dislikes, and also that you’re willing to do unpleasant things for them.
- Write a Heartfelt Note or Card
Do you ever find it hard to say the things that are on your mind? Try writing them out instead.
It might feel a bit sappy at first, but your loved one will love reading the little love note that you give to them, Sharing feelings can be uncomfortable, but if you can do it from a distance, it might come much more easily. Writing everything down and having them read it later will help ease that discomfort.
For added value, pack it as a surprise in their lunch for work, or hide it in their belongings to find later.
Everyone likes to know that they’re appreciated, and a heartfelt note or card will help convey that message.
- Buy Flowers
Flowers might seem a little bit overdone, but the classics stay popular for a reason. There’s something really special about receiving flowers, and they add a bit of color and decoration to a living space.
If you know your special someone’s favorite flower, now is the time to put that knowledge to use. Otherwise, go for favorite colors, or flowers used during a wedding or previous date or event.
For an added surprise, make this a regular event. Never forget to make your loved one feel happy with flowers again. You can sign up for a flower of the month club to ensure that fresh and unique flowers are being delivered monthly.
You’ll be preparing for your floral gifts way ahead of time, and that foresight can be very thoughtful.
- Give Them a Day Off
Does your loved one normally do all of the cooking or all of the cleaning? Do they take care of the pets or children? Have they been working on all of the gardening or yard work, or working on the vehicles?
Whatever they’ve been doing around the house, take it over for a day while they relax. If you can’t do it yourself, consider hiring someone for help for the day for whatever tasks are at hand.
True “days off” are few and far between, and this one will be appreciated.
- Share a Gifted Experience
If you’re unsure of how to show someone you love them with material gifts or quiet gestures, gift an experience that you can share.
Concerts, museum trips, and (if you can manage it) vacations are wonderful gifts that you both get to enjoy. They also provide a lasting memory for you to bond over. Not all gifts have to be things that you can hold and display. The best ones are only saved in your memories and photographs.
- Make a Mixtape (or Playlist)
Mixtapes might seem a little bit retro, but they’re totally back in style. While your special someone might not have a tape deck anymore, you can replicate this same process with a playlist.
There are plenty of music streaming services with playlist making tools available for free download online.
Consider songs that you both have a history with, like the first song you danced to, or the song that was playing during a special event you shared. Similarly, you can use some of your favorite songs that you think that they’ll like, or songs that remind you of them.
Mixtapes are great because every time they listen to it, they’ll be thinking of you and the work you put in to choose each song.
- Give Them a Book You Love
Anyone who was ever a reader knows how special books can be. If your loved one is also a reader (or even if they only read occasionally), sharing a cherished book with them can be a wonderful gift.
Not only is it thoughtful to share something you love with someone else, but it might provide this person with insight into your character. Sometimes the books we fall in love with resonate for a reason and speak to who we really are.
Sharing your favorite book might help your person understand you just a little bit better.
- Let Them Be Right
Everyone is wrong sometimes, and some arguments are worth having. That said, you only get one hill to die on.
Sometimes it’s a more loving gesture to simply let your loved one be right, even if they’re wrong. As long as it isn’t a life-or-death situation, it can improve your relationship and cause no harm in the long run.
If it’s that important to you, try to educate in a kind and loving way at a later time.
- Truly Listen
How often do you actually listen to your loved one? It’s easy to hear the things that they’re saying, but are you absorbing them?
Taking time to just sit and listen to the things that they’re telling you, be them complaints or happy stories about their day, is a wonderful way to show your love, and it will help you grow closer.
There’s no way to truly communicate and respond to someone in a meaningful way without making an effort to listen to them. While there’s a lot to listen to in a day between work, school, kids, or any other priorities, don’t tune out when you get home and have alone time with your loved one.
- Learn Something New Together
Taking a class with your loved one can be a fantastic growing experience for both of you, and it can bond you together.
Learning new things encourages people to work together, and picking something that will require some kind of collaboration (like a couple’s cooking class, or some kind of physical activity like couple’s yoga) will encourage that further.
You’ll be growing as people while you grow closer together.
- Support Their Goals
Does your partner have a dream or goal that they haven’t been pursuing, or that’s been pushed aside because of the necessities of daily life?
Try to provide support to this dream or goal. Things are easier to achieve with help, and providing that help will show that you’ve been a good listener and that you support your partner’s interests.
Some goals are small and easy to achieve, like getting stronger at the gym. You can go with them to provide moral support or purchase a gym pass for them if they haven’t done it for themselves.
Other goals are larger, like starting a business or going back to college. With this, doing a bit of research into some of the necessities of the goal and helping your partner to create a gameplan can be really helpful.
A lot of people let their own goals pass them by when life gets too overwhelming. Showing that you’ve remembered these goals and actively want to help with their pursuit is very loving.
How Do You Show Your Love?
Everyone needs to feel loved and appreciated sometimes, and it doesn’t take grand gestures to give them that feeling.
From the simple acts of listening intently and turning off your phone, to the glitzier gifts like flowers and shared activities, there are so many options to choose from.
Consider your partner’s love language and choose a gesture or gift that will best suit their specific needs. Sometimes it’s hard to know how to show someone you love them, but a bit of effort goes a long way.
For more information on love and relationships, check out our blog. There’s always more to learn.
