The Meaning of “I Love You”

Just today I was asked by a friend of mine, “Do you know what ‘I love you’ means?” And this is the answer I gave her:

      Love is a special connection with someone. It is a deep connection where you feel happy just to hear their voice or to be near them. Not a quickly gone excitement, but a steady, lingering flame of enjoyment, of peace, and of contentment. Nothing else really matters; that person is here for you and that's all that counts. When you think of him or her, you think of, yes, sex and other things related to the physical, but you also think of just sitting together in a quiet place discussing things of mutual interest or not even talking, just being content in each other's presence.

      "I love you" is a commitment to the person you speak it to. It is a phrase full of meaning. When you say, "I love you," you are conveying your feelings to that person. In those short three words, you are expressing all that I spoke of in my above statement. The exact meaning in those three little, but powerful words is different for each and every person and for each and every relationship, yet somehow all conveying a meaning very much the same.

      "I love you" is also conveying your commitment to that special person that you are here to support him or her just as he or she is here to support you. Saying “I love you” is promising that when called upon for help—both consciously and subconsciously—you will come and do all that is in your power to do to provide assistance—be the conflict large or small. “I love you” is a promise that you will be there for conflicts as small as opening a pickle jar or as large as giving support through a deep depression