Hello TheSadGirl2. I personally haven't found 'I love you' or 'I love you, too' that difficult to say, except to people who I know I don't love. And for them, from what I recall, if they said 'I love you' then I just say 'thanks, appreciated' and then move on to the next awkward thing.

My way of looking at it is, I ask myself, 'do I have love for this person?' and if the answer is yes, then I can say I love you. So, I guess when I say 'I love you' what I mean is 'I have love for you', and so that makes it easier to say or handle. At the end of the day, you're right, love is in the actions, but don't forget, verbal communication is an action as well.