Haven’t we all had those days? And still continue to have. It’s past midnight, your lights are out, your pillow is all soaked up, you have an unending running nose and the tears from your eyes just won’t stop flowing. Did your partner cheat on you? Did you guys have a fight? Or was it your mom? Or your best friend? Did you not score well in that one test? Did they bully you again? Is it because of something from your past that still haunts you? Or is it just your low self confidence?

There could be 101 million reasons, but crying past midnight is not okay. Well, I am a cry baby and I don’t promote don’t-cry-you’ll-be-fine theory. I know how much it means for a person to free their emotions through tears. No vocabulary in any language can cover up for the relief you get after crying. Also, what harm can a little salty water from your eyes cause? I don’t see any, and it’s anyway better than breaking things or hurting others. To be honest, I cried for around two hours before writing this. It was then that it hit me. Why was I doing it? And who was I doing it for? Why give importance to something so irrelevant and let it waste my time? I can and I have so much better to do with my life, why spend it sobbing?

Of course you can cry and you should, if it helps. But you need to remember that crying is also a sign of weakness. Weak is what you’re not. After everything that has happened, everything that you’ve been through, weak is the last thing you want to be. You’ve been so brave all along. Are you not proud of yourself? If you can make through all of that, why can you not survive this one night? Grab your favourite book, start reading it again. Watch your favourite movie. Dance to your favourite songs. Make yourself some midnight snacks – nothing beats the midnight snacks. Anything that helps keep your brain busy, go for it. Celebrate yourself as a person and remind yourself why you’re worth it.

Again, you’re worth it and so are your tears. Cry if you have to, but make sure it does not make you seem weak. Don’t cry so much that everybody starts taking you for granted. Those tears have powers – healing powers. Tears are one thing that can effortlessly unburden with the heavy pain that you’ve been carrying around, use them wisely.

Maybe this is the reason why volcanoes don’t erupt all the time, not even the active ones. They are aware of their potential and they know when and how to use it. Earth has its own ways, you know. What if you’re a volcano too? Haven’t you had times when you had enough and you just wanted to explode and be done with it? Volcanic much? You’re full of strength and powers and wisdom. If you’re up and crying this late at night, there must be something serious about it. You’ll get past it too, I know. Stuff like this is too little to break you down. You are strong enough to take all the challenges of life. Rise back from the ashes. It’s never too late.