Feel it, Live it, Love it..

"I will not belittle myself or others for mistakes made. There is no gain to be made dwelling on an error. I will choose to cast off anger and disappointment"     author unknown

Anger, disappointments and mistakes are all part of life. Often causing many tears and moments of weakness or so it feels. Feel it, don't stuff it!! Value yourself enough to know you just as anyone else has that right. God will continue to put us through tests in life and sometimes the same ones repeatedly until we learn what he is trying to teach us. Most of the time it is strength driven. Showing us just how strong we really are. Crying along the way is ok despite what we may have been taught early on. I for one was taught if I was crying I better have a damn good reason for it or I was in deep shit. I remember being roughly 6/7yrs old and introduced to the song "Don't cry out loud" by Melissa Manchester. Here is a verse of that song and what I was taught very young: "Don't cry out loud just keep it inside and learn how to hide your feelings, fly high and proud and if you should fall, remember you almost had it all..." See I was taught not to count on people and never let them see your pain. And have had many heartaches along the way because of what I was taught as a child. Today I know that I need people to see my pain as well as my joys. A lot of little boys are taught that real men don't cry that it is a sign of weakness. When just the opposite is true. Real men do cry and are not afraid to let you see that. They are human beings just like woman and have some of the same pains and joys woman have. I personally think its very touching to see a man cry genuine real tears. Just means he has a heart!
It's been said that crying is cleansing of the soul. There are many different reasons that people cry. Could be because of a loss (many forms), a disappointment, frustration, happiness, pain, anger and even manipulation. Whatever reason you cry, know that crying allows us to be vulnerable and open for growth and change to take place in our lives; if we let it. We are all ultimately responsible for our feelings, actions and reactions. Yes, some one can cause the pain but we have the choice of how long we hold on to it and how we react to the pain caused us. You alone are also responsible for how long you stay down. No one chooses that but us. Find strength and courage to carry on and push through. Feel it, deal with it and keep trucking through life. Find peace with the reason for your tears and resolution will come to be more clear.
I love the saying "stay forever green"; meaning always remain willing to learn and grow. Just because we get older doesn't mean we have nothing more to learn about living life on life's terms. Don't be so naive and close minded to think you have nothing else to learn. You will be the one to lose in the end. I promise!!  Please remember if you get nothing else out of this piece but this; remember we are all so much bigger and stronger than our trials and tribulations. Just as our skin sheds to allow stronger new skin to grow; so does your problems. Feel it, live it and love it.
As always please keep the men and woman of all branches of the military in your prayers for a safe return while they are out there protecting our HEALTHY FREEDOMS here at home. God Bless.