People Are Sharing The Most Underrated Thoughtful Gestures (40 Answers)

"What I've learned from re-reading [the comments under my post] is how small these meaningful gestures people listed actually were," u/Self_World_Future told Bored Panda. "Some of the top replies were things like saying 'thank you' or simply asking a friend how they're doing."

The Redditor thinks that being kind may have become less of a priority for us. "However, I believe if people were reminded of the power simple gestures have, they would make more of an effort," they added.

"Since about a year of things like online schooling and working from home, I hope people don't forget to rekindle relationships that may have suffered from the restrictions of the pandemic."

Details matter. Especially for couples. According to Professor Aaron Ben-Zeév, who is considered one of the world's leading experts in the study of emotions, we should invest in the small routines, not the grand gestures. "We've heard it before but it's true: it's the little things that matter," Ben-Zeév wrote in Psychology Today.

"In any genuine long-term loving relationship, we (correctly) give greater romantic weight to the small gestures that show us evidence of love beyond the brief time spent in sex. There are those who specialize in one-off grand romantic gestures: giving diamonds, whisking their lover abroad, or taking them for lavish dinners at fancy restaurants. However, those actions mainly express a momentary mood and not enduring, profound love."

You see, it is much easier to fake one-off actions than it is to imitate continuous behavior, expressed every day through small gestures. "We don't experience enduring love in one night of great sex, but rather in consistent loving behavior. Love is not one big gesture; it is rather a combination of million little things expressed in pleasant and kind daily actions," Ben-Zeév explained.

But the professor highlighted that "the importance of continuous small deeds in romantic relationships does not eliminate the importance of one-off big and small romantic gestures, such as going abroad together, the wedding of a firstborn child, or a shared meal in a romantic setting."

The professor said that at the end of the day, profound love, like a happy life, combines the enduring continuum of the little things with the bigger, more meaningful things — the latter spices up romantic relationships and life, but it is not the main course.