Actions speak louder than words

I'm sure you've heard of that phrase, and it's true. Of course it doesn't hurt every now and then to let someone know how much you appreciate and love them by telling them so, but it makes it more real and solidified when we show them how we feel through our actions. So, what are some of the special ways you let your family, friends, and significant others know that you love them and appreciate them?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by Maico

So, what are some of the special ways you let your family, friends, and significant others know that you love them and appreciate them?

I'm big on being the first one up in the morning and cooking breakfast.
Its cold now, warming up the car so my wife doesnt have to is another one.
Piggy back rides for my kids!
Working out with my oldest son.
Doing whats in the bible...
John 14:9-15
Jesus answered....."If you love me, you will obey what I command".
Mark 16:15
He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I show my family that I appreciate them by not preaching bible verses that have nothing to do with the topic on hand. Seriously LordsSword, I don't mean to start anything here, but how are those in context in any sense? If I could find my bible, I'd be able to give 3 or 4 verses of my own that would actually pertain to this.

Anyhow.

My mom deserves tons of appreciation and I do what I can to show it. Anytime I'm over during the winter, I shovel her driveway. Right down to the pavement. You'd think it was summer time her driveway gets so clean. I always help out when I'm home. Clean up a bit, help move heavy stuff around. Simple little things. Things my siblings are too arsed to do. When it comes to friends? I tend to be pretty generous. My thoughts are that if I'm generous to them, they'll understand that I actually appreciate them as a friend.

For a future girlfriend(as well as past ones), I tend to be the sappy romantic. Cheezy jokes and lots of flowers. Not too much though obviously because then it just gets creepy. Being on time and fulfilling commitments tends to show appreciation as well.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

just notice how i don't show any action anymore cause people tend to back away from me when i do,
i used to tell my family and friends that i loved them and that i would do anything for them but not anymore
now im semi anti social and hold back any emotions i feel for a person cause i hate dealing with the aftermath.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

No one really says they love each other in my family. It's all done in action - never in words. It's funny, because my sister and I have admitted to mutual friends the same thing: if we were to tell each other that we loved one another, we'd break down crying and wouldn't be able to stop. We try and avoid those kinds of situations in my family because we're emotionally supposed to be Spartans. (But we aren't)

So, in lieu of words, we show actions - we're always there to help each other, and we're always always willing to go out of our way for one another. You get a phone call from Dad or sister, you act on it. You help your family when they ask for help. (It takes a lot for us to ask for help, too)

My sister lives in Boston, so I can't help her as much as I did.

I work for my father, which is essentially continuous help. He can ask me to do just about anything and I'll do it - because he's my family, and family is all you've ever really got.

I was speaking idiomatically.

my Friends are my family . . . they are the first ones to support me and the first to believe in me.

I will admit that often I am the first person to judge myself to the extreme and give up on myself, It always surprises me that I still have people that are behind me and are there to help me out, we all need a little help sometimes, we can't do everything ourselves . . . This Christmas break I will make an commitment to tell my closest friends how much I appreciate them.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

But you know, in a way, words are actions. Like making a promise, saying 'I do', etc. There's actually a concept about that called speech acts or so. Though the act in merely saying "I love you" doesn't say it as loud as something like taking time out to completely extinguish, say, your younger sister's fears over not getting into the college of her dreams, etc., so I get the idea you're going for...

Anyway, I'm not a very emotionally demonstative guy, I guess. If there's an extra mile I can go when the opportunity comes up, I'd do two, otherwise, I'm not very quote-unquote 'romantic' when it comes to doing stuff for family or significant others. It's a shame really - I love my family, and particularly my mom's been incredibly supportive of me through the years, and I've never found a good way of showing how much I appreciate everything. I could always say something cheesy, but that feels like cheating (see the title of the thread), and also to make us feel all embarrased and self-conscious isn't the idea. Doing or giving them something nice is nice, but it's best (I think) when it's something out of the blue and something they'd really appreciate. The bulk of my family is an enormous ocean away, and I have no idea what would knock her off her feet. Hmm... I'll think of something... But for now, I just do all the favors I can for everyone and bring back nice things when I visit. Hmmpf.

As far as significant others go, there's no one I'm seeing seriously now, though I guess being pretty affectionate and supportive made up for not actually being in love (with a capital L, I suppose) with the women that I've been involved with. So other than generosity and just being there for them in general, no grand epic displays of love there either. Hmmpf again.

FELIPE NO

I don't do enough, generally. The most consistent thing I do to show love and appreciation is expressed through being excessively polite. I'll thank someone sincerely for covering a $5 lunch someplace, or express how much I enjoyed spending time with a family member if we're out somewhere. The response I get is usually an amused "No problem" or something similar, because I do this in situations where people apparently don't expect to see their courtesy verbally recognized. Part of the problem with this is that I'm quite shy, and tend to think that if I perform an actual action to show appreciation, it will only come off as awkward, especially coming from me. Historically, my presentation of such things has been in itself awkward, so it's a self-fulfilling prophecy, I guess.

It's interesting to think about, because politeness is (generally) such a passive gesture. I myself am rather passive, and rather than be an influence, I instead tend to be influenced. But I don't want this, at least not totally. Underneath the surface I am wildly passionate about a good number of things, and one of the major things I'm trying to change about my personality involves unearthing those passions so that I can tell the people in my life, "Yes, you matter. You have an enormous amount of value to me, and I'm so happy to have you in my life. Thank you; thank you so much." That, as Crowdmaker mentioned above, would be something with actual force. I hope to build enough confidence in myself that people would come to expect it from me, and not the, well, quiet fox that people see now. Perhaps at that point, actions themselves will come more easily.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

I honestly don't have a lot of people to show appreiciation to. But, I try to show those I can appriecaite and love, I don't really do enough. I want to, but I've scared so many people off in the past showing my thanks to them, that I figured I should hold back, heh. I do try to do whatever it takes to make their lives happier and easier, and try to repay the kindness they shown me.

Jam it back in, in the dark.