Life and Death

In today's world a man is viewed as strong, prideful, and lacking emotion. You are taught from a young age to "man up" and this could lead to you always holding in your true feelings. Think about it for a second can a man come to his boys and express that he's down about a situation without being looked at as a "punk". We get so caught up in being men that we forget that it's ok to have emotions. I didn't read anywhere that said we are supposed to be emotionless robots. How many times have we used the term "pull your skirt up" when joking around. Me personally I even try not to express myself at times because of what others may say. You don't wanna be that guy who ignored the signs and is crying at a funeral months later. So Instead of looking at someone as a being soft why not extend an olive branch of support. I've been on both sides I've held feelings in and also brushed off a close friends feelings because I just didn't know how to deal with it. 

The first thing that the friends of someone who committed suicide think is "we had no idea they felt this way". I don't think that is the case I think sometimes we brush off the emotions of those close to us. If your always told about how other people have worse problems than you, how does that help?? It's kind of like damned it you do damned if you don't, you say something it may backfire and if you don't you may very well die. If you aren't comfortable telling those close to you, how you feel then it's going to end up hurting you in the long-run. How many times have we seen someone seemingly get ignored but then when they pass, they have an outcry of support? I understand people have their own lives but don't get so caught up in it to the point where you forget about those close to you. I personally tend to wear my emotions on my sleeve which can be good or bad but I don't care. People around me will always know when something is wrong but it's up to them as to whether they want to deal with it or not. My mother always told me "I don't want any roses when I'm dead". What's the point of letting someone know you love them when they're gone?? 

I made the mistake of not keeping up on the condition of one of my closest friends. When he passed away I always carried guilt because I felt like I let him down. This still haunts me today and it just made me realize you have to let people know that at the least you'll always be there for em if you care. I went years without seeing some people who I consider close to me am I happy about it? No? but hey what can you do. So anyone who knows me I'm extending an olive branch of support to you if needed. And for those of you who may feel this is too dramatic or too deep then you must not know how it is to lose a loved one. Yes I am a man but remember I am a human first.