When Is It Okay For A Man To Cry?

Daily Blog #241

Another holiday… well, yeah, I’m sorry.

I swear I don’t go into holidays looking for ways to destroy them, but somehow, I seemingly find a way to do so. This one though left me in tears.

Wait, what? Did I just admit that I cried recently? Eh, maybe I will be embarrassed looking back on this one day, but for now, I’m just be honest with you. I am sharing with you each and every part of my life. Despite focusing my life on happiness and positivity, I would be lying if I said that every second of my life was filled with sunshine and rainbows. And for the record, yes, I am admitting that I cried today. And no, I do not feel one bit ashamed to tell you about it.

As a male, there is this certain stereotype that exists that strong, successful men can’t, and won’t cry. Isn’t that like saying that men shouldn’t feel sadness? Is that the same as saying men shouldn’t laugh or smile when they are happy? What if they cry from laughing? Is that still an unmanly thing to do?

What makes crying so “unmanly?” Is it the fact that crying shows a sign of weakness? Or does it truly show a sign of strength that you have in admitting that you actually messed up, and now you feel embarrassed? I am going to go with the later one.

So let me share with you why it is okay for men to cry.

1. WE ARE HUMAN

I am not ashamed to tell you that I cried, because I am human. There is no man or woman that walks this earth that will ever be perfect. We all make more mistakes on a daily basis that we can possibly keep track of. Very rarely do I cry, but when I do, odds are it is because of the severity of my actions. This holiday was no acception. Hey, I made a mistake. My actions hurt those that I love the most. I have taken responsibility for what I did, accepted the fact that my actions were wrong, and was embarrassed of my actions.

2. IT SHOWS YOU CARE

When you cry, it shows that you care. Maybe you cry at a funeral, maybe you cry at the fact that you got fired, or maybe, like me, you cry out of embarrassment. Whatever the reasoning is, it is because you care about what is going on in the world around you, and you want to improve the things that are not going well. And if you want to grow in life and achieve greatness, you have to care about the things that impact you.

3. IT’S A WAY OF HEALING AND MOVING FORWARD

When you cry, how do you feel afterwards? Odds are that you feel a lot better than you did before you started crying. You are finally able to release your emotions, you are finally able to tell others what you are truly thinking, and you are finally able to lift that weight off of your shoulders that was holding you down. Why? Because you decided to allow yourself to show emotion. Now, you are able to move forward.

4. IT TAKES COURAGE

Crying shows courage. There is no way to argue that. It shows that you acknowledge the negatives in life, whether those negatives stem from your actions or circumstances around you. It shows that you don’t want those negatives to become your life, and it shows that you have a better vision for your life aside from the one that you are currently living.

And let’s talk about being manly for a quick second. Is it manly to do the same exact thing as every male out there? Is it manly to hide your emotions until it gets to the point where you break your wrist from punching a brick wall? Is it manly to walk around all day with the mentality that you are perfect and that everyone else sucks? If you think that any of these act are manly, then you keep doing you. Personally, I believe that it takes more strength to allow yourself to cry, simply because you are going against what most men are willing to do.

THOUGHTS

So to answer the question “When is it okay for a man to cry?” how about whenever you feel like crying. You don’t need to hide your emotions from anyone, and you definitely don’t need to hide any of your imperfections. Acknowledge what it is that is making you feel down, learn from it, and grow from it. Forget the stereotype, and feel whatever emotion it is that you are feeling. Even if it means by crying.

Michael Bonnell

12/27/2018

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