Moved To Tears
It doesn’t seem to take much to make me cry: a sad movie, a tender commercial, a good romance story, bad news from a friend or family member, a tragedy on the news, weddings or funerals. As my daughter, who also cries easily says, “God gave me really good tear ducts. I use them well!”
It seems odd, even to me, that on a moment’s notice, watching a thirty second commercial, I can be overwhelmed to tears. Music and even prayer, can also, arouse such intensity, I am overcome with emotion, and find myself crying. TV shows that involve children, especially in harms way, will cause tears that last long after the show is over. I can’t seem to get it out of my mind, and tears well up all over again!
Humans are said to be the only beings on earth who cry for emotional reasons. I read once if a person is moved to tears, then an emotion has been touched. If that is in a story, it means the author has done his job well! (I’d like to think one day the words I have penned would cause such emotion to the reader.)
There are reasons for tears, however. Have you ever noticed a tired baby cries? Studies have shown this same phenomenon applies to adults. The study suggests the reason we easily cry at a commercial is, we are tired. (I’m not sure about that one!)
Most men will quickly tell you, crying is for women. A lot of little boys are told “it’s sissy to cry” and many men believe crying is proof of weakness. I disagree. I believe rather than a display of weakness, it’s a demonstration of strength. Apparently, however, we women are built to cry more, because we have an extra X chromosome.
Additionally, we, as humans, live very complicated, busy lives. Stress factors in crying ability. When my stress level is high, I am quicker to cry than at other times. When I’m feeling overwhelmed in a negative kind of way, I seem to be more easily offended, even when it wasn’t meant that way, causing me to, again, cry.
I’ve heard people say, when dealing with an unpleasant experience, “Don’t you dare start crying, cause you’ll get me started again!” I’ve been there and that indeed happens. My daughter calls my little granddaughters, “sympathy criers.” When one is in trouble or hurting, the other one will cry with her. In fact, when my daughter took her six-month-old son in for scheduled shots, he received three and never even cried for the first two. He just looked at his momma, with a questioning look of, “Really?” His five-year-old sister on the other hand, who witnessed the infliction of needles, started crying as soon as she saw the evil instrument in the nurse’s hand.
Depression is yet another reason humans cry and rides with our emotions being on that higher level, mentioned earlier. When we are sad, and mood down, and sometimes even feeling numb, due to circumstances over which we have no control, we are filled with despair. Although temporary, crying seems to soothe the soul, even if it doesn’t solve the problem.
I am grateful for the “gift of tears.” It’s a genuine way to express feelings, even if we don’t always “feel in control” when it happens, as we express sadness, joy, tenderness or pain. One thing is certain; emotions have just been touched!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/06/25/why-youre-crying_n_5499558.html
Photo credit: https://www.gettyimages.com/photos/tissue-box?