Written by: Kriti Nepal - 24010, Grade X
Posted on: 23 November, 2021
There are a lot of emotions we human beings can show; it can be happiness, sadness, anger, fear and many more. Amongst these emotions, crying is often persecuted, picked on, made fun of etc. We often tend to cry whenever we feel a bit hurt, frustrated, sad, when things don’t go as planned or when we are in pain mentally or physically etc. Almost all of the people have either one of the 3 opinions about crying; they either think crying is a sign of weakness or it is a sign of strength and a selected few are neutral or think of it as something natural.
I personally think crying is a sign of strength and not weakness. It is a human emotion and character strength that shows we care about something and that we are not afraid of showing our emotions regardless of what the society might think. Crying reduces the emotional stress we are going through and makes us feel lighter and open up our mind for positive thoughts and make oneself feel better. There is a stereotypical mentality that we grew up with when we cried that said ‘Only weak people cry’, ‘Be brave don’t cry like a girl’, ‘Boys don’t cry’,and many others which I feel are completely wrong. The people make it sound like crying is bad, and that it makes one weak and messy, and make the people more and more insecure about crying or showing their emotions openly whereas, crying in front of people needs courage; it means that a person is showing their trust and confidence in others. Crying is shedding off the heaviness we are bearing in our heart and making oneself ready to face other challenges yet to come. Crying is not only brave, but also an honest reflection of heart and what we feel. I feel crying is a sign of strength however in some cases it can also depend on the situation or the perspective. Like crying when we lose someone close to us, when we get hurt is a sign of courage and strength, however, crying just to achieve something, get attention etc I feel is an act of a coward or it is a sign of weakness. People who cry a lot have had more practice dwelling on the inner workings of their mind and heart which makes them more self-aware. Pretending to be okay when we are not doing well physically or mentally might not be so good for ownself and that Crying is normal, and repressing that is not necessarily ideal.
Hence, I feel that crying and showing one’s emotions is a sign of strength and courage. We must normalize crying instead of making fun of the people and calling them weak for speaking their heart and showing their true emotions. Since crying helps in getting positive, decreases stress, makes us care less of what the people might think and live more for ourselves, and also needs a lot of courage to show this emotion I feel that crying is a sign of strength and not weakness.
