Actions That Make an Impact
When something unexpected or challenging happens in life, we all could use a little extra support. Whether it’s offering your presence, passing along a kind note of encouragement, lending a hand by providing a meal, or even asking how someone is really doing, the action holds tremendous significance to the recipient – at least it has for me personally.
Learning to Respond
What I know to be true: on tough days, the smallest gesture has the power to completely turn my day around.
I used to feel unequipped as to how I should respond to difficult circumstances faced by family and friends. I was certain I would respond in the wrong way, that I wasn’t being helpful, that maybe inadvertently I would do more harm than good. This often paralyzed me into doing nothing.
Now I know better. I know it’s okay not to have the perfect words. In fact, it’s okay not to say anything. But I can still do something.
Actions make an impact. Actions show you are thinking about a person – that they aren’t alone in their circumstances.
Encouraging Others
I have been profoundly impacted through actions of others. My hope in life is to take what I have experienced and pass it along. Life is bound to happen and trials will inevitably occur. Through small, and sometimes big, ways, we can help one another through the seasons of life.
Below, I’m sharing a few practical ways to show someone you care.
Send snail mail in the form of a postcard, handwritten note, card, etc. (Postable is a fun website you can use.)
Ask a friend how you can pray for them. Periodically text them after you’ve prayed to let them know.
Text, email, DM, or Facebook message a few encouraging words. (It can be fun to get messages in unexpected places.)
Send an inspirational graphic t-shirt. (Nellie Taft has great options.)
Leave cookies or baked goods in the mailbox.
Send flowers or a plant from somewhere like The Sill.
Cook a meal or buy snacks to drop off.
Mail a fun book to read from Amazon. (Or mail something else they might enjoy like a coloring book/colored pencils, nail polish, etc. With Amazon, the options are limitless!)
Send a cute care package from Etsy, like these.
Donate to a cause that supports what they are going through.
The next time someone or something is placed on your heart, I encourage you to take action. I promise, you’ll never truly know the significant impact your action has made.