Yesterday was an emotional day. And I'm not even sure why. If I had to guess, It'd have to be due to a mixture of confusion, uncertainty, and doubt... all of which jump on our backs every so often. But yesterday was different. And it took me practically the whole day to come to terms with why I was feeling this way. At first, I believed my so-called emotional outburst to be a result of some "problem" or overwhelming factor in some random sector of my life. For a little while, I felt as though my recent miscommunication and (at times) conflicts with my roommates was eating at me. I mean, lately, things have been a little out of wack. I was certain that this was the cause of my little emotional break down. But then, I realized that I was wrong.
I recently finished a book called "Season of Life," written by Jeffery Marx, which introduced the crazy idea that emotion, empathy, and relationships, are critically important parts of the way we live our lives, or (how some people believe in) the way some things just "pan out" the way they were supposed to. The book goes into further detail about how society sets limitations and boundaries on emotions, and what feelings we can and cannot express (especially in males), and how releasing emotions and expressing genuine love and empathy towards others is looked down on as a weakness in character. Regardless of gender, I believe that life is truly what you make of it. I'll be bold, and quote Marx as he proclaims that "Life is only 10 percent what happens to us, 90 percent how we react to it" (142). I definitely have to agree with the statement that he makes, because what life truly comes down to, is the decisions we make, and how those decisions not only affect our lives, but also the lives of others close to us. To build upon treating life as what you make of it, I firmly believe that the ability to reveal one's emotions hardly dampens their character at all. If anything, displaying how you honestly feel about something, even if it means releasing a few tears, is better than concealing what is obviously trying to escape you.
All of this was running through my mind yesterday... in a matter of ehh 15-20 "ish" minutes. Even I hate admitting it, but I cried. And boy, was it a good cry. I can't even explain how relieved I felt when I wiped away the salty tears from my face, and was on my way to my last class of the day. I felt cleansed. Better yet, I felt rejuvinated. I had come to terms with the fact that sometimes, we don't always need a real reason to show emotion, or feel a certain way. Sometimes emotion builds up inside of us, and we only become aware of it when it kicks us in the behind and starts pouring out of the holes in our faces. It's our internal selves taking a breather to say "time out, Melissa." "It's time to release me!" I also think that having the maturity to accept that showing emotion is a healthy release to relieve yourself from stress and whatever life brings us (which apparently, is only 10 percent) comes in time.
This being said, the next time you have the urge to cry or release emotion, try letting it just happen. Even though we may not know exactly where the urge is coming from, it is desperately trying to escape our bodies, and often in the form of tears. And (I know I do, but) sometimes we are quick to associate tears with sadness. Does it ever occur to you that an emotional outburst of tears might be a streak of happiness merely trying to capture our attention in order to realize that life is good? Even if it doesn't always feel like things are going our way, it's always interesting to look at others who don't have it as great. Whatever the reason, always remember that "sometimes, we don't always need a reason."
