The Relationship Artist: Saying "I Love You"

Saying I love you is one of the most wonderful yet oddly unnerving experiences for someone in a new relationship. It says that you care about a person to an extent that they need to take notice. It also says that you might think more of them than they think of you. Therein lies the problem!



As beings of conscience, we do not like rejection. It hits too close to home; too close to our deepest fears. Saying I love you is like asking rejection over for a cup of tea. It slips in the door rather quietly then slaps you upside the head so hard you can’t be sure which way is up. All the while you’re left wondering how and why it is you brought this on yourself. Beings of conscience have natural instincts to preserve their well being and making verbal gestures of love that could go unrequited sets this instinct off.

"I love you is the greatest thing one person can say to another."

Yet saying those magical words is just what you find yourself ready to do. Maybe it struck you when you were feeling tomatoes in the produce department at your local grocery store or perhaps it came over you while on the bus into work. Whatever the case, when it hit, you knew it was true. You probably weren’t around this special person at the time of enlightenment, otherwise you would have leaned over and said I love you right away, right? Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe you were and you did and you got stunned silence in return or a tight ‘I think you’re really great, too.’ The point is that only one thing matters here. That is that someone loves another person and has or should have the courage to say it.

How long is life? For most, not nearly long enough. In that time you can only say I love you so many times. Again, it’s never enough. If you feel it in your heart, you owe it to yourself to say it. Love doesn’t belong inside of you. Sure, you need to love yourself, but it’s so much better to love someone else. Let them know when you feel it. Say it because there could be no tomorrow. Say it because it feels right. Don’t look for it in return. It will find you in time.

The best advice that can be given is to be open about how you feel. Worrying about how it will be received isn’t the point. Say it when you mean it. I love you is the greatest thing one person can say to another. Even fear of rejection can’t stand in the way of that.

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