Saying I Love You is such an easy thing. It is something that should be done daily and done to most everyone you encounter. There are many people that we all interact with daily that we all allow to pass through our lives without once saying I Love You. You don’t necessarily have to voice it, but say it nonetheless. How many old friends and acquaintances do we all have that we have not been in contact with for long periods of time, even years. Often times they are people that when given thought we think “Gee, I wonder where they are or how they are doing. I wish I hadn’t lost contact with them.” Well, re-establish contact. There’s no law against it and it certainly will satisfy your own curiosity about where and how they are, and they will most likely truly appreciate it because you have taken time out of your day and made a special effort to track them down and contact them just for the sake of contacting them. No ulterior motives, just contact. You have just said “I Love You”; or rather “I love you enough to make an effort on your behalf”. Isn’t that what love is really all about, making the effort? What do you normally do with people you don’t really care for? Nothing! You don’t waste time on them, you make no effort. Every couple of months I take a day to just sit in my office and think about the people I know that I have not contacted in a while, some of them I have not contacted for years and I try to make that contact. When I do and we talk they ALWAYS say “Thanks for calling”, and I know they really mean it.
So why don’t we make more effort for the people we truly like, or better yet love, on a daily basis. I’m guessing laziness and selfishness. We get too caught up in our own day to day life to spend the time or make the effort on someone else’s behalf. We actually begin to neglect people who are the closest to us. Why is Christmas such a special time? Not because of the gifts or the food but because it is a time that we traditionally think of other people and provide a little more effort. I say “a little more effort” because it really is. We confine this extra effort to just a select few so, really, little effort is expended. What about the people that truly need the extra effort, the homeless living on the streets or in shelters, the new people on the block, the people disadvantaged for one reason or another. How easy it is to give thought to them also and make a monumental impact on their lives with a simple gesture of good will.
There are many ways to say I Love You to someone special. Find out what they truly love to do and do it with them. Do something unexpected for them. Really listen when they talk, learn what they like and don’t like, or what their dreams are. Respect their feelings on all subjects. See them honestly, not how you want them to be. Tell them a funny joke or funny story to brighten their day. In short make them glad you are their friend. You will not only say I Love You but you will, if you are listening, hear them say I Love You Too back. After all is said and done the best way to say I Love You is to just say it. Look that person straight in the eyes and open your heart so they know you are speaking directly from there, and just say it. If you haven’t told them before and you truly do love them then it is time. Everybody likes to hear it. We all need it, so why not just say it?
