No one likes to see people crying. Crying generally signifies pain, grief or anger and it’s hard to see someone hurting. Even happy tears can be uncomfortable to witness. Tears can also be contagious and most of us hate crying in public even more than seeing someone else do it. But we should all try to remember the words of ‘It’s All Right to Cry’ from the 70s classic Free to Be You and Me: “It’s all right to cry. Crying gets the sad out of you.”
Is crying good for you? Absolutely! There’s nothing more cathartic than a good cry. It’s the ultimate primal expression of whatever you don’t have the words for. Now get out your tissues and check out 10 more awesome things about people crying.
1. Stress Reliever
Crying isn’t all about what’s going on in your head. Emotional tears (versus tears from wind or cutting an onion) actually contain stress hormones and toxins so you are literally cleansing and releasing stress when you weep.
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2. Natural Antibiotic
Tears contain lysozyme, which kills bacteria and keeps us healthy.
3. Detox
For most people crying is an emotional and physical detox. Your tears flush out stress hormones and they also flush out unpleasant or confusing emotions paving the way to clarity.
4. Embrace Your Feelings
When you cry, you are in touch with your feelings even if you aren’t entirely sure what they are. If you don’t feel sadness, you can’t feel joy.
5. Spark Communication
Crying in front of other people may be embarrassing but sometimes it’s the only way to truly communicate the depth of your feelings or ask for support. Bursting into tears can pave the way for open communication.
6. Vulnerability is Brave
Too often emotion is equated with weakness but it’s a lot braver to reveal your deepest feelings than to hide them. Allowing yourself to be vulnerable is true strength.
7. Bonding
There’s a reason we girls like to get together and watch a good tearjerker like The Notebook. Sharing a few tears is a bonding experience.
8. Crying at Work
Facebook COO and author of Lean In, Sheryl Sandberg says that she has cried at work and it’s okay. Men do it too, by the way. HuffPost asked 15 female leaders what they thought and, though responses were mixed, many believe it’s healthier to let yourself be human as long as you don’t go overboard.
9. Crying Rooms
You’ve got to love Japan. Tokyo’s Mitsui Garden Yotsuya hotel has introduced ‘crying rooms’ to help women travelers combat stress. The rooms are stocked with soft tissues, warm sheets and a selection of movies guaranteed to make you sob.
10. It’s a Wake-Up Call
Sometimes anger or pressure builds up and you don’t even realize it. Until you burst into tears in the middle of the grocery store because they’re out of your favorite cereal. That’s when you know it’s time to stop and check in with yourself.
