Isn't love strange?
A word we arrange
With no thought or care
Maker of despair
The Moody Blues From ‘Isn’t Life Strange’

Why is it so hard to say? On the other hand, why is it sometimes so easy to say it without sincerity? Women find it easier to say, unless it is the other love, that one and only person. Then, they find themselves hesitant, waiting to be sure. Most men find it easy to say to women, glibly whispering the words…without meaning them
We’ve found ways to say it without it sounding too intimate.
“I love you, man” became a catch phrase that allowed guys to say it as though joking.
“Love you guys” is a way to end a conversation without actually pinpointing the individual and saying specifically “I love you”.

Funny how we’re becoming more and more capable of expressing hate.
As Larry Norman (Christian singer/songwriter) noted:
the Beatles sang “All You Need is Love” and then they broke up.
And that breakup turned into some real battles.

Or as Meatloaf noted one of his songs “I swore that I’d love you until the end of time.
But God only knows what I can do right now
I'm praying for the end of time
it’s all that I can do'

In our teens, we’re taught that the phrase we hated to hear was “I love you….as a friend”.
Today, we find it difficult to express ourselves to our friends and commit to them what we feel.

I love you.

We are scared to say it for so many reasons (and all of them wrong). Can’t say it man-to-man, can’t say it to any female but my wife/husband. Don’t want it misconstrued as something it isn’t.

Can we get past that teenage angst and say: I love you? As a friend, as a fellow human being, as a fellow traveler on this planet?

Do I have regrets? Many, but the one that haunts me most is and was failing to tell people I loved them, and now it’s too late.

The changing
Of sunlight
to moonlight
Reflections of my life
Oh how they fill my eyes
The greetings
Of people in trouble
Reflections of my life
Oh how they fill my eyes

Marmalade (Reflections of my life)

How you deal with it really isn’t my problem. My problem is only that I might miss the chance to tell you.
It’s okay if it is one way.

Hey. Friend. I love you.

1132608