Live to the point of tears.

Yup. Got that covered. If nothing else, I have definitely mastered living to the point of tears. In my family I’m definitely considered the cryer. I always blame my Aunt Mary Ann for passing that gene down to me – I get it honest;-)

I cry tears of joy when I’m happy, I cry when I’m sad, I cry when I’m moved, I cry when I hurt for others. I am a cryer – sometimes publicly and sometimes privately.

I’ve spent a good chunk of my life feeling like crying was a bad thing, something I needed to change about myself. I’ve very often heard, “you’re so sensitive” or “you’re too sensitive” and so I believed it. I believed I was not supposed to feel things the way I felt them or even let my emotions show too much because it may lead me to tears. I’ve spent a lot of years trying to hide those tears and suppress those emotions.

Then I went through a trying period of life several years back where I cried so much the well within me dried up and I couldn’t produce tears no matter how hard I tried. I came to understand what it meant for your heart to become hardened. I didn’t feel things the way I used to, I was unaffected by all of the things that would usually move me to tears. I’d go to weddings, no tears. I’d experience something really exciting, no tears. I’d hear bad news, no tears. I’d get really frustrated, no tears. It bothered me. I felt as though I was unable to feel things, to really experience life the way I used to. Fortunately, that phase didn’t last long and eventually I was able to cry my eyes out when watching a sappy love movie again! Ha!

The reason I bring all of this up, is crying shouldn’t be viewed as a weakness. The ability to feel to the point of tears is a grace given to us by God. When my dear friend, Mendy, spoke this Albert Camus quote, “live to the point of tears,” it stopped me in my tracks and nearly moved me to…yup…tears.

Live so fully invested in your life and others that you are moved to tears. Don’t be emotionless. Let yourself experience the emotions of your life rather than hiding them so others can’t see what you are thinking or feeling. Sure, doing so requires us to expose ourselves in a way we may not be entirely comfortable with, but ignoring the way you feel only causes you to compound the feelings of your life deep into your heart where they are sure to bubble up or explode at a later time and then it’s a volcano of emotion all at once!

Live your life with emotion. Live to the point of tears.