Caring is about striving to meet the needs of the people around us.
There is no question that everybody is capable of caring, even if they are only caring for themselves.
The question is not whether or not one is caring but how genuinely and deeply one cares for others.
We have compiled the characteristics of a caring person so you can see how caring you actually are.
1) You don’t see it as a burden
Everybody has problems, responsibilities, and struggles, but a truly caring person helps those in need regardless.
If you’re a naturally caring person, caring for you is not a burden but rather an opportunity to ease someone else’s pain. And that, to you, is more important than finishing work on time or doing all your chores for the day.
You willingly make your sacrifices for other people without making them feel guilty about it.
Even distance can’t keep you from showing people that you care about them and are willing to reach out.
I personally love how the internet has made it so easy to talk to people anywhere and show them that you care, even with a small digital message.
2) You align with love
Your truest intention in caring for others is love. You align yourself with love over fear as you experience life and make choices.
Even in the face of fear and uncertainty, you choose love.
You can identify the times when you have tried to ignore your heart with rationalization, which was shielding you from the fears and anxieties that come with caring.
If you’re striving to become a more caring person, you need to embrace love even when it entails sacrifice.
In my experience, the love I have for other people and their well-being has been worth the sacrifices I had to make.
3) You are compassionate
Compassion is about knowing when someone needs help, feels emotional distress, and why they feel that way.
As someone who is an empath, feeling compassion is easy for me. But it doesn’t come naturally for everyone.
The first thing about being compassionate is being empathetic, and this comes from being aware of how other people feel.
You make their feelings your own.
If you’ve ever seen a friend call a supervisor “mom,” you’ll know what I mean.
But it’s not so easy to be empathetic, not just because it’s hard to read emotions, but because it can be hard to face them both in ourselves and in others. I’m a sensitive soul, so this is the part I struggle with the most.
Empathy is something that needs to be practiced as a skill and embraced as a duty.
You can’t be compassionate without feeling for someone else. If you want to be a more caring person, you have to learn how to see someone’s burdens in life and choose to help carry them with compassion.
4) You accept others
Having a caring personality means being accepting of others and being open to them.
You have to be able to accept people’s strengths, weaknesses, and faults. If you don’t, it might become difficult for you to care for people as much as you should.
I find it hard to exercise compassion towards people I don’t like, and I imagine that that’s how you feel too. You may even become hostile instead of caring for them.
If you’re going to be a caring person, you have to be able to see people for who they are and still embrace them.
5) You are cheerful
Carers tend to be optimistic in the way they view people and the world around them. However, we all know that the world is not sunshine and rainbows.
At times, the people around us have problems and experience negative emotions.
A caring person is an empathetic person, making them sensitive to other people’s pain and yet being able to alleviate it by holding onto the beauty in life.
Sometimes, all it takes is a smile, some positivity, and a willingness to chat to make someone happier.
Being kind is easy!
6) You are there for your family
Caring is not just limited to friends or strangers. It is also important to care for one’s family, especially when they are the closest people you can cultivate compassion with.
In a family, you make sure that everyone is healthy and happy, especially the children. My own parents are getting old, so I do this by encouraging them to live a healthier lifestyle.
A caring family member is in tune with the other’s needs and goes out of their way to make sure those needs are met.
No matter what the situation is, a caring person will always be there for their family members, even when you’re far apart.
7) You take an interest
One more way to show others that you care about them is to learn about the things that are important for these people. For instance, things such as what makes them happy or unhappy and why they feel what they feel.
Empathy does not come easily for everyone, but luckily for us, some people are more than willing to just say how they are feeling!
For instance, I cannot stop talking about how great yoga makes me feel.
The next time you talk to someone, no matter how close or distant you are, you should ask them how they’re feeling, what they’ve been doing recently, or about how their day has been.
Making an effort to ask these little questions can show that they are not alone and that you really do care about their well-being and the trajectory of their life.
8) You show sincere appreciation
Not all gifts are perfect; I’ve had my fair share of gift cards to buy myself an item I don’t use. But a caring person does everything they can to show sincere appreciation for what others do for them.
We are not the only ones trying to be caring in this world. We should also be mindful of those who care for us.
Caring for people can feel good by itself, but without appreciation, it can become draining.
It is important that we help foster a caring culture by rewarding it with sincere appreciation toward those who care for us and our loved ones.
A simple “thank you” goes a long way.
9) You help the less fortunate
It goes without saying that kind and caring people are the ones that integrate with the masses and give even when there is little to give.
I find that most of my fellow child advocates are not so fortunate themselves.
And still, they showed care and love to me even if they lacked a lot of things in life.
A truly caring person offers their services and resources to others without expecting anything in return.
They are deeply familiar with the suffering of others and know that even a small sacrifice from them can help a less fortunate person tremendously.
10) You notice the little details
It matters a lot when we remember the small things that people share with us or even the little details we notice about them, like their habits or tendencies.
According to leadership experts, what we remember about a person affects how they perceive others and themselves.
By remembering things about the people, you show them that you care enough to pay attention to them and that they are worth paying careful attention to.
11) You schedule check-ins with loved ones
If you are a naturally caring person, you regularly do kind acts for the people you love. You show them your appreciation not only on special days but also pretty much every other day.
But it’s easy to forget about the needs of others in the modern world with so many distractions. We work, run errands, worry about our future…How does one even find time to call a friend to ask if they’re ok?
Well…
Naturally caring people schedule check-ins with their loved ones because they want to be there for them.
They make an effort to keep in touch with their closest people and make sure they know how they’re doing at any given moment.
Even a simple “How are you?” or “Are you ok?” can mean a lot to people. These are things we can do every day.
You can schedule days when you can give small acts of kindness and special days when you can give grander gestures of love.
12) You pick your battles
Some conflicts are unavoidable, or shouldn’t be avoided, so there are times when a carer must engage in conflicts to resolve an issue.
If you want to be caring, you should be understanding with people you disagree with and time your confrontations accordingly.
A caring person engages in conflict for the purpose of resolving it, not to take anger out on another person or to put them down.
Conflicts that are filled with too much anger or have too little understanding are best avoided, at least for the time being.
Is caring too much a bad thing?
Caring is never a bad thing, as it shows how much you understand others and want them to grow. However, caring too much can cause you to sacrifice too much of your own health, both mentally and physically.
You need to set proper boundaries to avoid taking on more stress than you can handle. This doesn’t mean that you should keep caring to a minimum, but you should be wary of giving more than you can.
One should practice prudence even with caring.
To put it simply, caring too much by failing to set boundaries or biting off more than you can chew is detrimental to your wellbeing and, in some cases, even your loved ones’ wellbeing.
This doesn’t just apply to caring about people, but this can easily apply to caring about things that matter to you, like your career.
To sum up
It’s easy to become overwhelmed with the problems and negative things around us.
But when we consider others’ needs, we can set our troubles aside and grow with other people.
The universe may not have blessed us with the material wealth we want, but there are things in life that are worth more than any amount of money.
Helping those in need, smiling when you feel like crying, and never being too busy to reach out to those who are struggling are the priceless things you do every day.
You will feel much better at the end of the day when you surround yourself with the love you have sowed into the world.
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