Laying out your emotions is terrifying. Telling someone exactly what you are feeling when you feel it is a trait that scares us all a little inside. However, the whole realm and idea of relationships would be so much easier if we all just said exactly what we felt, right when we felt it.
I've been in this situation before where I knew how I felt about someone and I let it simmer inside of me until it was too late. Although I know now that the person was not "my person," I feel like I could've saved myself a ton of heartache coming out of it. What I ultimately learned from that is being open and honest with people is essentially a personal freedom.
Since then, I've lived under the thought that if I feel something for someone, I should tell them. What its gotten me is a whirlwind of open expression and a few failed attempts. Even more than that, its given me the power over my emotions. It has given me the freedom to say whatever I want about how I feel. It has given me a boyfriend.
The biggest difference now, is that I've learned that by keeping anything bottled up, I would only be doing a disservice to myself and to that person. Even if the person of your affection does not feel the same way that you do, they deserve to know that they are lovable. Lets face it, people thrive on affection, we like to feel wanted. We as humans long to feel this every single day, why not be the person that could give that incredible gift to someone else?
Lastly, that underlying fear of something not being reciprocated is ever present. Here's the thing, if they don't, they don't. That's literally the worst thing that could happen, and guess what? The only thing that it means is that they're not the person you are meant to be with. However, there is always that chance that they do want you, and you might never know if you don't speak up.
I wrote a similar post on my personal blog, http://ashtontkelly.wordpress.com, and I ended with this, "the point of this is to say and advise that if you love someone, love them. Truly, deeply, love them. Tell them. Show them. Humans have this magnificent gift to feel things like this for other human beings. Why should we keep that bottled up?"
