Crying when you have problems

Blog entry for June 17, 2008

I was about to hit the sack last night when my phone suddenly beeped, it was a text message from an unregistered number. It's almost 2AM so what I would normally do is ignore the text message and get my well deserved rest in my comfortable bed and just read it in the morning. But for some reason I got curious. So I read it. As I browsed through the message I realized that it came from one of my students. The question that my student wanted to ask me is if it's ok to cry when you have problems. Obviously this person is in distress and needs help, so I replied saying that crying is normal when you have problems, if you feel the need to cry then let it out and cry. Don't hold it in. As soon as you've cried it all out, wipe your tears and try to breathe deep and tell yourself that I'll be ok. In the face of adversity, some people may perceive crying as a form of weakness, I think otherwise. I admire people who are not ashamed of crying. It's not a sign of weakness for me. It's an unspoken statement that tells the world that you're only human, with real emotions, imperfect and prone to make mistakes. You're not doing it to invoke sympathy. You're doing it for yourself. Because you know that holding it in is not good for you. It will only cause your stress levels to go up, the end result of which is not pretty.

Stress is a part of our daily lives. Oftentimes we find ourselves confronted by a situation that puts our adaptability skills to the test. This should not be a cause for panic. Just breathe and think about all the obstacles that you overcame in your life and tell yourself that you will get through it. Just breathe.