It takes a strong man to hide his emotions

I’m going to be a little philosophical today as my mind is often thinking this way, but for some reason I have the urge to write today and I don’t want to stop that as I have been struggling to find inspiration.

It takes a strong man to hide his emotions. Or, that’s what we teach each other. But, I believe it takes a stronger man to recognize that he is weak. It takes an even stronger man to admit this to others & the strongest man realizes that without the aid of others & from his God, he is nothing. No amount of outward strength will be able to overcome his weakness.

So, why is it that we train ourselves that we must be “strong” enough to do things by ourselves. Perhaps it stems from the training we get as children. That first time we use the toilet, walk or feed ourselves – we become strong and “big boys or girls.” I’ve watched as children grow up, we train them to behave, and how that translates into adult type themes. I’ve also seen a pattern that develops based on what order you were born. First born children are often the most independent and are frequently the ones most unable to show their weakness, they were asked to grow up much quicker than their younger children. I know this because I am a first born. I have been very independent, highly motivated by my own self desires to be intelligent, capable of maintaining my own life without the aid of others. I rarely faced failure and when I did, I didn’t let it show. Then something happened in my life that caused me to be so weak that I could not face the world without help. It was at that point that my world changed. I was forced to realize I was weak.

But, how do we teach others to do this? The answer, we can’t. They have to realize it themselves. We can only be there ready and willing to help when the time comes. It is not possible to force someone to realize their weakness enough to reach out to others. The only thing we can do is keep reaching out to remind them we are there for them when they become ready. This same thing must happen with children as well. As a parent, you are not helping your children by walking them through every hurdle in their life. They have to be able to fail, recognize their weakness and turn outward for guidance.

As your friend, I will always be there when you are ready. But, I cannot and will not force you upon me. For, it is not me who has to fall, it is not me who has to suffer under the weight of your blind strength, for I am the one who is there to catch your fall when you say. I can’t. I need you. For true friendship is defined not by how rich you are, or how much you agree with someone. True friendship is defined as those who reach out, worry, comfort and assist when you are in need.

And, thus, out of this comes my own teaching philosophy and why I do not fear giving failing grades to students. As much as I want everyone to succeed, sometimes failure is the only way to teach someone and unfortunately, this is the world we live in.

I’ll leave you with just some words of wisdom, when your friend is in need, don’t tell them to brush it off & move on. Tell them, it’s okay, if you need to talk I am here. And, when your friend does come to you, listen to them. Offer empathy and if they desire it, offer advice. But, listen. This is the first step in their development of showing their weakness & you are there to catch their fall.

May the peace of Allah fall upon each and everyone of you.

With love,
Moonstar Silverwolf

When pain threatens to overcome

One of the questions in my poll a few posts back was “Have you ever thought of suicide?”

The answer is yes. There have been two moments in my life that I have been within moments of making the choice. The first one seems so lame now that I look back on it as I had not known pain, yet I thought I was in pain so unbareable that I suicide was the only way to release it. It wasn’t until the second time around did I realize just what pain felt like.

Both of these incidents happened in moments of my life when I felt very lost, alone & unsure of how to survive on my own. But, both of these events, I believe were changing moments in my life that has led me down a path of greater understanding & happiness. Had things gotten worse in those moments, I may not be discussing it now as thought it was in the past.

It became known to me during both of these that suicide is only one answer to the question, but only one. While it is still the choice of the individual & is not to be denied to them, it must be known to them that their choice is the ultimate one without being able to go back. It may seem like the answer, but it does not have to be.

My first experience happened when I was 15. I had grown up in a fairly good home with both parents being educated, employed and happily married. But, things fell appart a little in the family life at that time. My mother would reveal that she was pregnant & have her third child (she was 38 years old at the time). My younger brother would have his first major panic attack during school & the next year I witnessed things that I wished I would never see. I was even put into a situation where I was asked to hold my brother so my father could talk him down from his rage. Anxiety & panic attacks can be very hard to deal with, especially for an 11 year old like he was. So, while my family started to split apart, I found myself feeling more alone. I was having trouble making friends at school & would often find that my “friends” were more interested in getting answers for homework than being my friend. And, of course, I was also in the middle of my teenage years where emotions play with your head & hormones mess with your ability to focus sometimes. While locked up in my room, I had very little to do but think about the pain. It was at that moment that I returned to the God I had been raised on & saw the power of faith and what role it can play in bringing you out of the destructiveness that I had found myself in. Between age 15 & 18, my spiritual self played a big role in who I was. While I would eventually leave the faith I was raised in for my current ideals of god, it was a path that has forever changed me.

The second happened after 6 months of torment in a failed marriage that was not even a year old. My emotions had been played so long as I competed with the “other”. The stress & emotional low that came with the idea that my 7 year relationship, the person I cared the most about & loved so much that I would die for them, only to find out they are willing to say they love someone else, but they love me as well. To see the notes exchanged between them, to know they work together & spend time together every day, to feel betrayed & unsure who to trust. This pain is almost unbearable. Seeing the hate from their eyes as they blame you for their unhappiness without any compassion for your own pain. Seeing the person who took your first kiss, your virginity & pledged your life to them for life stare at you as though you are some sort of disease. Hearing them degrade you one minute, then shower you with affection the next only to turn their back on you the moment the “other” comes back into the picture with an email or myspace message. And, the whole time wanting to be supportive to them because you believe they are going through an identity crisis & because you love them you want to be there as they go through their own painful experience.

This pain is greater than I thought I would ever experience. It tears you apart from the inside, slowly, painfully & you can feel every pin as it pushes against the walls of your organs, your heart & tries to break through the skin.

Add on top of the pain, the stress of being in your final semester of graduate work, putting a theatre production together in two weeks, working 20 hour days for that span. Putting together your thesis debate to defend it. And, having your wisdom teeth removed.

Yes, all of this happened between Jan & April of 2007.

A number of things happened that helped me through this. I had some wonderful friends who supported me. I had family who loved me. I had my own intellectual mind that was able to see the signs of pain & I had the strength to call a counselor while in tears & her kindness of talking with me on the phone for 30 mins for free, scheduling me the next day AM to come into the office. During that 30 min call, she suggested I seek additional help from a Psychiatrist as they may want to put me on a med to help me through it. I was able to get myself an appointment that following Monday into a new doctor that had just opened up her private practice after leaving the University’s hospital. (If any of you know Psychiatrists, you know their schedule is never that open..I was lucky).

I also went for a few appointments to the family counseling center at the University. I think I shocked the Graduate student who was my counselor, as I had quite a story. (What I have revealed is not the full story.)

All of that support around me helped me get over the pain enough that I no longer thought suicide was the answer. But, it wasn’t for another year and a half that I would be fully out of that emotion. It would take me moving in with my parents for 2 months, filing for divorce, moving 900 miles away to Alabama for my new job to get me moving. But, it wasn’t until a few months after my divorce was final did I ever feel free enough to break away from that pain. That was a year ago last March. I went off medication in July of last year. I still struggled with highs and lows, but it was no longer completely based on my past, but now about my future & present, so I had moved forward.

What suicide, depression & pain has taught me is that I’m extremely strong, I have the desire, the will and the want to not allow the pain to overtake me. But, most of all, despite having only a few close friends, they are ones that I love with my life. While my relationship life may have forever been hurt as I struggle to trust people, my love of life was not destroyed. I would not let that die within my heart. My heart still longs to be compassionate & I long to love someone greater than myself. For now, that part of my life remains empty, but I know when it’s time, I’ll be ready (I hope). I just hope they are ready to handle what might be within me not only in love, but also in pain. For I know, once I have someone who loves me enough to be willing to comfort my heart, the darkness that hides within me will need some light but the switch is nowhere to be found.