On Crying

I must say that as much as I'd like to deny it, I can be quite the cry-er. I use to associate crying with weakness and shame. You remember being called a "cry-baby" in grade school and being teased by classmates when you cried and stuff, right? So yeah, every New Year one of my resolutions would always be "to not cry". Which is pretty silly now that I come to think of it because each year, I end up breaking that resolution! There is NO WAY that I can last a year without crying haha. At least that's how it's been for the past 23 years of my life. It's just a matter of how long I can last without crying (this year it lasted for about 2 months). But as of late, I've come to embrace the way God made me. Guess you can call me emotional, which I have no problem accepting anymore. It's one thing to have emotions and be emotional and cry once in a while over stuff; it's another thing to be OVERLY emotional (this I don't want to be). I've come to realize that there's something very liberating about crying and just letting it all out and just being real with yourself and what you're feeling. It's emotionally healthy. And when you're with people, there's this element of vulnerability and realness to it, which I believe even helps strengthen relationships. Hey, we're all human and sometimes we just go through sucky days or rough periods of time that beg for a good crying. And there's no shame to do it in front of people whom you trust and know that love you and won't judge you.

And I've also concluded that sometimes it takes a REAL man to cry.