Hello, everyone!
Welcome to my blog regarding the #Hivelearners feature contest week 203 episode 2.
This is my own perception about this topic. I could recall vividly when I was quite young with my siblings, and we used to fight, and there was this perception amongst the children that if a boy fought a boy, he should cry; if he did, it would show that he was weak. But today, the world has changed from that perception to seeing things differently.
Men are human beings, they have feelings and emotions, they have burdens and a whole lot, just like some women do. It's not a crime or sin for men to cry. It's a way of expressing themselves to let go of burden and pain, to feel relieved, and move on to the betterment of their lives.
Years back, I lost my paternal grandmother, and when my father got the report, he started crying; I could literally see tears rolling down his cheeks, for such a demise. My dad cried for days without being comforted. For me, seeing my Dad cry, I followed him too and cried. At that moment, he deserves to cry because someone who loved him cared for him from the time he was in the womb until he became an adult. So he cried. There was a time when my Dad spoke with his Uncle, who was bedridden for years without healing or a solution. So the man was talking to him with his voice unstable and shaking, and my Dad broke down in tears. In my little mind as a young girl, I was like Why is my Dad so simple and vulnerable that he can't control himself in public. My Dad sat outside and cried 😂. I was ashamed, and I ran inside and cried too.
I didn't know that was his way of expressing himself, relieving pain in his heart, and showing that he is a strong man in the house where children were around, and the compound where visitors were trooping in and out without being ashamed.
There was a day I celebrated my birthday and my sister's birthday, and my dad came to give testimony, while he was testifying he cried. I was what? My Dad understood what he was doing. The fact that his children are alive and healthy, and everyone is complete in the house, is a way of giving thanks with tears of joy.
My advice
To every man out there, if you feel like crying, cry. It is a big way of expressing yourself, it could be a way of responding to stress, burden, pain, or loss, deep joy, celebration, and peace within.
Moreover, for men to cry doesn't show vulnerability in a negative sense, it can show positivity, in the sense of showing emotional honesty, self-awareness, and self-care.
Some cry for their love for women in an infatuated way and in a genuine way. They have different ways of expressing themselves.
Therefore, men cry when they feel it. There is nothing bad or sinful. Even strong men in the scripture cried.
This is my response to the Hivelearners feature contest week 203 episode 2
I love, I care, and I forgive
