Every time something bad happens, whether it’s a breakup or even a death, all people ever tell you to do is “be strong.” Its always “keep your head up,” “be positive,” or “you can handle this,” but why does no one ever tell you that it’s okay to be weak? It’s okay not to be okay.
Our generation is in this strange kick right now to just not care about emotions. We ignore them and crack jokes about feeling nothing so we appear tough and strong. Yes, it is truly great to be a strong person, but maybe keeping emotions in is driving us to insanity. I’ve learned lately with each mental breakdown, that something good comes out of each one. Emotions are necessary and need to be recognized and taken care of. They are so so important, and should not be ignored.
If you go through an awful breakup, maybe a few, just freakin' cry! Why wouldn’t you? That’s literally inhumane not to cry when you love a person and it ends, it will feel like your world is crashing down. Why can’t we be like girls in movies who stay in and cry and eat chocolate ice cream and watch sad movies? Is that better than going out and drinking to forget, and ignoring emotions just to have them haunt you the next morning alongside a hangover? Don’t get me wrong I am totally one for having a beer or seven on Friday when I’ve had a rough week, but that isn’t a permanent fix, it’s a temporary one. Cry. Talk to someone.
The only thing that is going to fix your emotions is recognizing that you have them. Recognize the fact that you're upset so that you can figure out what is necessary to help you. Cry your eyes out until there’s nothing left, maybe eat some ice cream or unhealthy food while you're doing it, have an epiphany about it all, figure out what you need to do to fix it, and then do it. Then you can be strong, then you can keep your head up. Bottling your emotions is an awful way to heal. How can you possibly rid pain that’s sitting in your brain so long it’s basically embedding itself there for good?
Boys will break your heart, you will fail exams, everything that can go wrong in a day will, your life will feel like it’s falling to pieces (multiple times, sorry to warn you), and you may feel completely and utterly lost at times, but we are human. We are meant to have emotions, we have a heart and brain why wouldn't we feel things? Being “over feelings” and not caring is going to dig you a deeper hole. I promise it’s good to cry. It’s good to share your feelings to your friends and family. If you don’t want say them out loud to anyone, write. Write in a journal, start a blog. It’s good to vent. Not being okay and recognizing it will make you okay again. It is okay not to be okay, embrace not being okay, because in the end you will only learn and grow as a person.
