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There's No Crying In Baseball! – It's Okay to Cry it Out

Lauren Grace Living

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There's No Crying In Baseball! – It's Okay to Cry it Out

Lately I find myself tearing up over every little thing. The opening ceremonies of the Olympics, the closing ceremonies of the Olympics, practically every commercial during Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday, and forget about Sarah Maclachlan’s ad for ASPCA, that one sends me into a sobbing fit. Did I all of a sudden become super sensitive, or am I just learning to really feel and express my feelings?

I spent many years of my childhood never shedding a tear. After my grandmother’s death when I was 6 my family went to a series of funerals. Mind you I had a perfectly happy childhood, except for the fact that every few months we were at another memorial service. In about a span of 5 years we lost many relatives and friends, some taken way too soon. After awhile I became numb to the feeling of loss. Funerals became routine facts of life, and I simply stopped crying. I believe this was particularly disturbing to my family when my grandfather passed. We were very close and his death was unexpected. But I didn’t cry, in fact I don’t remember feeling much at all. At this point I must have completely shut down and numbed out. The feelings of grief and sadness were bottled up inside me and I had learned how to shut them out. It would be another few years before I cried again.

And when I did cry again, I really cried. It was the passing of our family dog Bonnie. I was 12 at the time and was really trying to hold it together. I didn’t want to cry in front of my parents or my friends, but the grief was palpable, I could physically feel it storming inside my body. When I finally got a moment alone I sobbed, and sobbed, and sobbed. I must have cried for an hour straight. I remember at the time feeling like the tears would never stop. I believe that I wasn’t just crying for Bonnie, but I was releasing years of pent up grief and sadness. For the first time since my grandmothers passing I was really mourning.

It would still take me a couple years to be comfortable with crying. To know that it was ok to feel sad and to express it. I began to feel more open about crying at funerals, I could shed a few tears over disappointments, and even get teary eyed in movies (admittedly I sobbed during Evita for like an hour). And at some point in my adult years I realized that if you’ve lived long enough everyone has experienced some level of grief. It’s what makes us human, it’s what connects us, so it’s ok to have a good cry and express your feelings.

Now I indulge in crying all the time, and I actually enjoy it! There is nothing like a good cry to release all your frustrations, disappointments, and worries. Crying can be extremely cleansing and it is actually good for you! While studying Chinese medicine I’ve learned that unexpressed emotions will eventually express themselves as disease and illness if they are not released. Keeping things bottled up inside is physically damaging to the body and its organs. Pent up grief and anger are the main sources of dis-ease in the body. Crying is not only therapeutic for our soul, but is essential to maintain our physical wellbeing.

Plus crying is a great way to move through difficult times in our lives. When you are going through a hard time its tempting to just numb out and shut off your feelings. But that doesn’t heal the situation and it doesn’t help you move on any faster. It is not until you really stop to feel and acknowledge your emotions that you are able to release them and move forward with your life.

And crying doesn’t always have to be sad. Often times I cry over stories of generosity and love. I could get teary eyed  right now just thinking of all things I have to be grateful for in my life. And I’m sure we’ve all experienced times where we have laughed so hard that we’ve cried! Crying can be joyous! Never apologize for crying over happiness, it is one of the most beautiful expressions of  our humanity.

So when is the last time you had a good cry? Is there old grief from the past that you haven’t expressed yet? The next time you feel tears welling up don’t suppress them, don’t try and distract yourself, and don’t numb out. Just let yourself have a good cry. Yes you’ll get all stuffed up and have big bags under your eyes, but thats ok, let it all out anyway, and I promise you’ll be glad you did.