The importance of saying “I love you”
I am a very loving guy, that’s something that I think pretty much everyone knows about me. I have an immense capacity to make space in my life for people, and to engage in meaningful and strong friendships and relationships.
Recently, someone I care for very deeply was physically assaulted. When I heard the news, the first thought that ran across my mind was “damn, and I didn’t ever tell him how much I cared for him… what if something fatal had occurred?”
Luckily, I had a chance to see him this past week and tell him how much I care about him and that I would always be there should he ever need a friend. This unfortunate event reminded me that I have always made a point (and should ALWAYS make a point) of telling the people I care about “I love you“. It shouldn’t take a scare for me to be reminded of this.
That’s why it’s important to never hold grudges, too.
You never know what’s going to happen and leaving things ‘unsaid’ can be psycologically damaging.
When my grandmother died, when I was 12, I felt some remorse that I had not said “I love you” (that I could recall) during our last ever phone call. (She was wintering in Utah.) Some months or years later, she appeared in a dream, in which I cried to her about it, told her I loved her and she comforted me with a close hug. The pain disappeared, and I’d like to think it was really her speaking to me in my dreams.