One of my Facebook friends just posted this on her wall and after reading some of the stories, it really got me thinking about this question…

I’m not very good at expressing my emotions with words and even though I don’t say it to them often, I truly love and care about the people in my life as I’ve been very fortunate to have some of the most amazing human beings one could ask for be a part of it, family and friends included.

Most of the important people in my life live in other countries, including my mom whom I only get to see periodically, and my father and two younger siblings live many states away from me. My best friends from childhood, whom I’ve known since we were 3 years of age, also live in other countries where they are studying and the only way we get to see each other is if we all happen to be back in our home country at the same time (they go back more often than I do because they still live there, whereas I have been living in the US since my second year of high school). I’ve also had the pleasure of making some amazing friends both from the US and from other countries during my travels and while doing internships for school, but I don’t get to see them either because we all ended up returning home at the end of our internships. Even though I’m so far from everyone and alone most of the time (save for two of my good friends who also happen to be my flat mates) I rarely feel lonely because I know there are people in my life who are genuinely supportive and are always rooting for me because they want to see me do well. But thanks to technological advancements (Skype, Facebook, Whatsapp, etc) we can easily stay in touch.

Although I’m not good at expressing myself with words (I can barely even say “I love you” to my own parents and siblings even though I love them more than life itself), I always do everything for them – as well as for my friends – without hesitation and without expecting or asking for anything in return.

I know that words can be powerful, but I myself don’t put much weight to them, especially if one’s actions don’t match up, so I guess that’s why I rather show than tell how I feel. Additionally, the few disappointments I’ve had in my life have come from people who were all talk and no action, which has made me even more skeptical of people’s words.

What about you? How do you express yourself to the people in your life? Do you think your way is effective, that they know that you truly care about them? And how do you gauge others’ feelings for you? Do you prefer words or actions, or a mix of both? Do you have any stories in particular you’d like to share?

Topics: life, friends, love, family, humanity, caring