Words are extremely powerful. They can hurt. Ruin. Or heal. Words can bring happiness and calm or sadness and pain. Some words ought to remain unsaid, while others need to be spoken … But with words come expectations. Some words carry so much weight that sometimes we rely on actions to communicate what we feel. Perhaps because it seems less risky. Words once spoken cannot be taken back, and they have the power to change almost anything.

Once they're out there, floating in the space between us, once such words are spoken, a relationship will change forever. Change can be a blessing in itself ­ a chance to upset the status quo. A chance to escape the confines of a situation created over time for reasons that seemed important, but really isn't.

But sometimes the status quo is comforting. It's safe. Uncomplicated. Or at least less complicated than the reality that may emerge as a result of those certain words being spoken.

I love you

Three little words, so simple, so significant, and often the hardest ones to say …