The 'I Love You' fast

It's one thirty and I have things to do. Of course I've had things to do for the past week. It hasn't stopped. Everything needs immediate attention. Eventually ya just take your time to be chill regardless of if everything is done or not.
So apparently blogging is my release for the moment. But don't worry it isn't a ranty release just a writing release.

I may have mentioned that I have a wonderful boyfriend.

Well he and I have been silly inattentive people lately. He's looking for a house and working like crazy, I'm in school and trying to stay on top of like 26 other things. So naturally every phone conversation ends up being this long drawn out string of  'Wait, what did you just say?' s. Until one of us finally admits that we have not been paying attention and we just hang up. Even in person it's difficult to focus on a conversation.
So words of affection like 'I love you' get tossed around in order to establish a sense of healthy relationship.    It doesn't work very well. I know I just end up feeling even more distant than I did before I said the words.

So it got us to thinking, in one of the moments where we actually took time to think about what was happening, and we came up with something that I'm pretty fond of.
We call it the 'I Love You' fast. Every time you get the urge to say those words you must refrain and instead of saying them find a way to show the person instead. After all you can scream those words till you're all out of breath but in the long run they simply won't matter if you're aren't willing to prove them with your actions.

It can be difficult coming up with different ways to substitute actions for words at first, (Honestly I'm still struggling)  but that should only make you realize just how important the fast will be. We get so accustomed to saying all sorts of silly things just because, that when the time comes to take action we're like 'Der... I don't know what to do.'
I try to think of compliments or encouragements or some way to just serve David. What need does he have that I can meet?
One thing I could do is fix him some lunches. He is always fretting about packing his lunch for the next day and he normally ends up with peanut butter sandwiches. So I could prepare a few days of lunch for him and make sure he's got a good variety of delicious and healthy items.

An idea I've been tossing around is prayer. As in praying over him as a way to show love. The only problem is prayer can be met with the same problem of all talk with no action.
I'm starting to get a better understanding of how faith without works isn't actually faith.

We did this fast once, while were on vacation. It was only for one day, but that one day was all it took for us both to appreciate one another and feel more appreciated. It isn't that either of us are insecure. I know he loves me and vice versa, but when someone takes the time to provide nurturing for your spirit it has an effect.

And it doesn't have to be with just your significant other. It can be with anyone. Parents, siblings, friends. Every person in your life could deal with feeling more loved.

So think about it: Who do you say the words 'I love you' to constantly? How can you actually show them?

Every time you go to tell someone you love them, think of something you can do to show them instead. It can actually be fun having to get creative with ways to show love.

Let me know if you try it! What did you do for the person?

Creating into oblivion,
E.M.G.