tears

It might be easier, at times, to cry in response to someone else's pain than it is to give breath to the pain that you know and hide, deep, somewhere far down inside. It takes strength to allow yourself to understand, that you too, deserve the same.

There is no bravery, or martyrdom, or courage in holding staunch against the tears bubbling from underneath. To feel (though quietly it may be) that your own is less or undeserving, is to rob yourself of the wonder that is a single sob. Pain is pain, sorrow is sorrow. Loss, grief, disappointment - they assault us all the same. So let loose and cry. Allow that shudder to rock your body. Let those tears escape. Engulf yourself, if need be, in sobs that make a dam of your throat.

Do not fear the criticism that you suspect others will hold for you. The darkness that you see in their eyes is nothing but a mirror of your own. Sometimes, what we fear is the source of much of our suffering. Sometimes, the standards we hold for ourselves were meant for a whole village to bear.

Your tears were meant to be the rain the clouds of your troubles create to cool the heat that ails your body. There is no strength of character in trying to pretend that your mountains are molehills. So let it wash over you. Let it release you free.