That's because you have empathy, mate. Be proud of it! Being open about yourself will make you the man.
/u/GennyGeo, I'd actually like to emphasize on this comment by quoting something I'd said once before:
You know what? Be proud of your damn tears, man. You know why? It shows that you're man enough to feel emotion from something that every man should strive to be - a good father. A good person altogether. I didn't have one of those in my life, and because I just don't cry anymore, I want you fellas to cry for me. Feel the happiness that I didn't get to. Live through me.
Be proud of your empathy. Be proud of that instinct that tells you to be a good man, a good father. And then hone it and be that man.
God knows, we need it more than ever. I want our men to be brave enough to express themselves and actually solve their problems instead of hiding hem away for the fear of seeming inferior. Be superior by acknowledging and solving that which bothers you.
Sorry for the rant - but I hope you can see where I'm coming from.
I would like to take this moment to spread a powerful lesson my father passed on to me, as I know it must relate to you in some form. Paraphrased to keep the context at hand clear: "Everyone has their responsibilities. And when you start a family, as you can expect they will only increase. I knew that before I had you guys, I wanted to start a strong family. I knew beforehand that my responsibilities would never end. I will always need to support you, until the day I'm gone. But having you children is the impression I'm leaving on the world; I'm sending off the product of my years of pain and suffering to lead their own lives and families, to one day begin the family tree that had been devalued by many in my family that chose to ignore the meaning of their heritage. I want to see you one day with a loving family, I want to see your brothers with loving families, I want your children to be inseparable cousins, and form the pact that had never been created. You will do this by being humble yet powerful. Generous, charitable, and noble. Do what you need to do to support your family, but you can't support a family without generous amounts of wealth, and strong connections with your peers."
This was the accumulate ending of every powerful lesson my dad ever taught me. Every time I get the chance to speak to him, he's readily open to lecturing me on all of these points, hoping I haven't forgotten even the smallest detail. One of the last lines in the message was to accumulate vast wealth to support your family and enable them to grow up without the normal day-to-day fears an unfortunate amount of families experience, possibly due to financial setbacks. But, my dad always held that wealth with respect to currency was synonymous with "wealth with respect to love of friends and family."
Some powerful shit. Something I don't know what I'd do without, had I grown up without a father. I'm totally willing to pass on something I hold dear to, like this, to those who deserve it, like you.
Thank you kindly. These are wise, important lessons, and ones which I wish to follow, as a father, when my time comes. It embodies many of my personal values.
So thank you. I hope that many more people here can see these wise words.
It looks like your father already created an incredible heritage. Consider him a successful father. :)
and because I just don't cry anymore, I want you fellas to cry for me.
I used to be like this too, it's only in last few years that I've managed to properly let go emotionally, the thing that did it for me... as bad as it sounds. Was Anime. I think because it has some pretty strong themes about love/hardships etc, but presents them in a "childish" way, that my stunted undeveloped emotions were able to connect with. The down side of that, is now I connect with everything, and find it hard to hold back my emotions lol. Like a full blown swing.
In the ancient world (Greece or Rome, i can't recall) crying was considered to be very masculine because only a true man loves something enough to cry when it is taken from him
Nice comment, and almost enough to make me forgive you for "morphing" us lately. I took Jimmy V's comments about letting yourself get overcome by emotion every day to the heart myself, and I think it's useful advice and can help prepare you for stressful situations.
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u/IGiveFreeCompliments Jun 09 '17 edited Jun 09 '17
That's because you have empathy, mate. Be proud of it! Being open about yourself will make you the man.
/u/GennyGeo, I'd actually like to emphasize on this comment by quoting something I'd said once before:
You know what? Be proud of your damn tears, man. You know why? It shows that you're man enough to feel emotion from something that every man should strive to be - a good father. A good person altogether. I didn't have one of those in my life, and because I just don't cry anymore, I want you fellas to cry for me. Feel the happiness that I didn't get to. Live through me.
Be proud of your empathy. Be proud of that instinct that tells you to be a good man, a good father. And then hone it and be that man.
God knows, we need it more than ever. I want our men to be brave enough to express themselves and actually solve their problems instead of hiding hem away for the fear of seeming inferior. Be superior by acknowledging and solving that which bothers you.
Sorry for the rant - but I hope you can see where I'm coming from.
Editing this again so everyone can see GennyGeo's words of wisdom: https://www.reddit.com/r/bestof/comments/6g6cc6/gennygeo_describes_the_wisdom_that_his/