Face the Feels

‘Big girls don’t cry,’ they say, ‘Big boys don’t cry.’
But they get sad. Don’t they? They get tired.
Like beasts who grow in darkness, our feelings locked away become monstrous.
If we have the courage to open the doors that block us from our feelings, we will come face to face with our own selves. Hurt versions of ourselves that needed attention, but that got neglected instead.
In this false but popular narrative of protecting ourselves from our feelings, we learn to be ‘strong’ by becoming numb. In the process, we stunt our own emotional growth. More than that, when we block our pain, we also limit our happiness as they are the two sides of the same entity.
It is ironic that people tell us ‘Big girls don’t cry’ and ‘Big boys don’t cry’. The truth is really that scared boys don’t cry, and scared girls don’t cry. Because it takes courage to face our vulnerabilities. It takes courage to let that pain sucker punch us while we breathe through it.
Be courageous, my friends. Face your feelings. Breathe through them. Write them down. Cry them out. Be hurt. Talk about it.
Pause a bit.
And when you’re ready, move on as a stronger, emotionally healthier person.