The word "strength" can be interpreted in a number of ways. For some, strength refers to a physical ability. For others, strength means never giving up. For me, strength means never allowing past experiences to hinder my outlook on life or keep me from experiencing new things.

No matter what problems or tragedies I face in life, I hope to always face issues head on and to never fake-smile my way through it. Often, crying is seen as a weakness, as if a single tear can make you less of a person than those who never show their emotions.

We have been taught since childhood to "suck it up" or that we will be in trouble if we cry or show our emotions. Why? This is because our society is generally afraid of emotions. We don't know how to handle someone else's emotions so we learn to hide them. We are told maturity is the ability to keep our feelings to ourselves. The truth is, all we are learning to do is block our emotions. Every issue, heartbreak or loss we face is automatically thrown to the back of our heads so we don't have to deal with them. We would rather not feel anything at all than allowing ourselves to hurt. We say "put on a brave face" or "tough it out"- actually suggesting that not dealing with our issues is to be considered brave.

Well to everyone that has ever been labeled as "overly emotional" or has been criticized for expressing their emotions, I salute you. I applaud you for crying. I applaud you for breaking down every once in a while. I applaud you for voicing your opinion and telling everyone exactly why you dislike something. Most of all, I applaud you for never being afraid to hurt.

When we go through a difficult time and actually take the time to grieve for ourselves, we are allowing ourselves to heal. On the other hand, if we go through a difficult time without grieving or reflecting on the issue then we are simply masking the feelings. Eventually, all of the blocking and masking and shielding makes us forget what it feels like to hurt. Every time we are faced with difficult situations we simply ignore it rather than take it head on. Taking time to get over a problem doesn't make you weak, is makes you strong. Being strong, in my opinion, is keeping our hearts open no matter how much damage that heart has faced. Being strong is going through a tragedy and still finding the bravery not to live in fear of that tragedy or having our hearts broken. We should not be afraid to love and live. Brian Jacques once said,"Don't be ashamed to weep; 'tis right to grieve. Tears are only water, and flowers, trees, and fruit cannot grow without water." To be truly happy in life is to find the strength to never close our hearts and to instead remain open to pain. Without pain, we cannot know joy.