I found this on the web and wanted to share it with you all!! Let me know what you think and if you agree!! I think it's spot on.

There are times when we are timid and shy about expressing the love we feel. For fear of embarrassing the other person, or ourselves, we hesitate to say the actual words ‘I love you’. So we try to communicate the idea in other words. We say ‘take care’ or ‘don’t drive too fast’ or ‘be good’.

But really, these are just other ways of saying ‘I love you’. ‘You are important to me’, ‘I care what happens to you, and ‘I don’t want you to get hurt’ all mean ‘I love you’. We are sometimes very strange people. The only thing we want to say, and the one thing that we should say, is the one thing we don’t say. And yet because the feeling is so real, and the need to say it is so strong, we are driven to use other words and signs to say what we really mean. And many times the meaning never gets communicated at all and the other person is left feeling unloved and unwanted.

Therefore, I believe we have to listen for love in the words that people are saying to us. Sometimes the explicit words are necessary, but more often, the manner of saying things is even more important. A joyous insult carries more affection and love within the sentiments, which are expressed insincerely. An impulsive hug says ‘I love you’ even though the words might be saying something very different.

Any expression of a person’s concern for another says ‘I love you’. Sometimes the expression is clumsy, sometimes even cruel. Sometimes we must look and listen very intently for the love that it contains.

We say ‘I love you’ in many ways - with birthday gifts, and little notes, with smiles and sometimes with tears. Sometimes we show our love by just keeping quiet and not saying a word, at other times by speaking out, even harshly. We show our love sometimes by impulsiveness.

Many times we have to show our love by forgiving someone who has not listened to the love we have tried to express. The problem is listening for love is that we don’t always understand the language of love, which the other person is using. A girl may use tears or emotions to say what she wants to say, and her boyfriend may not understand her because he expects her to be talking his language.

We have to force ourselves to really listen for love. The problem with our world is that people rarely listen to each other. They hear the words, but they don’t listen to the actions that accompany the words or the expression on the face. Or people listen only for rejection or misunderstanding. They do not see the love that is there just beneath the surface, even if the words are angry.

Simon and Garfunkel wrote that very haunting song, The Sound of Silence . It goes: Ten thousand people, maybe more. People talking without speaking; people hearing without listening; people writing songs that voices never shared, because no one dared disturb the sound of silence... It is a terrifying picture of our modern world, a world without communication and without love.

We have to listen for love in those around us. If we listen intently we will discover that we are a lot more loved than we realise.
Just listen!

orange

I don't have much to add, but I agree with you 100%!! I am guilty of not telling people how I feel most of the time. Like you say, I usually just show my feelings through actions, or compliment them on what they're wearing or something silly like that haha. Funny that this topic is coming up now, because some very good friends of mine, who are sort of like second parents to me, are leaving on a 4-month holiday tomorrow. I am really going to miss them and yet I found it VERY hard to even say that, never mind how much I love and appreciate them. I ended up sending them a handmade card and wrote that I would miss them in the card. It's almost as if saying you love someone is wrong or is too much of a risk! It's weird, but I think it's essentially a cultural thing and how you were raised.

DJ 'H'

I know - there are always awkward silences at the point where you want to say something to someone and you just can't so it all ends with "well take care - catch you later" that kind of thing.

DJ 'H'

Thank you Curlyben. I thought it was really inspiring, so I just had to post it!!

Jesushelper76

Thanks for posting it. I personally think that yes, many times our actions instead of words shows others how we love them. Yes, there may be moments of shyness. About words said in anger and love that is beneath the surface. It may be because of my beliefs but Complete unconditional love has no anger.

Just my thoughts.

Joe

DJ 'H'

No I agree Jesus helper. You can be upset with someone you love, but never angry at them - that is the art of forgiveness. We always forgive those we love.