Don't Stop Crying

I was watching an episode of Oprah's lifeclass today and the subject today was "the feeling of love that you can get from an animal." Among all the stories on there including Faith, the 2 legged dog and the story of Nate who reunited someone with their dog from Katrina, this blog comes from the "Puppies Behind Bars" story.

Why do we, often men, say "I'm sorry" when we begin to get emotional? When we begin to cry in public we apologize? it really got me thinking. These prisoners who are the best example of "hurting people hurt people," were allowed to raise these puppies into service dogs for wounded soldiers. They are being taught how to love and be unconditionally loved through a dog. And when they are given the chance to share their story and how impacting this program has had on their life, they begin to cry. One prisoner notes," it's allowed him to have the feelings he has had for so long but you learn to restrain from them b/c of this hard environment we are in." Saying all of this while crying and apologizing for it.

Is shedding tears a symbol of insecurity, vulnerability, immaturity, weakness? I believe we are telling ourselves that when we apologize to others for our emotions. It's okay to cry! I believe it's a sign of strength. you are so connected to your emotions and not afraid to show them that it exudes a kind of honor. It got so emotional at this show tonight and I don't know why. I began to shed a little tear myself and i felt myself holding back and i was alone!! I thought why do we do this???? So instead of fighting it, I let the river flow!!! and actually felt better afterwards. It releases some hormone in the body when we  cry.  So think about that next time you begin to get emotional either alone or around other people. Do you say "im sorry" and where did you learn it? Do you hold back the tears for fear of seeming weak? I don't know what the reason is but next time you feel the tears coming, just go with it....

this brings up another thought....why are tears salty??? .....next post i guess....