Do you ever find yourself crying uncontrollably in spaces your mind has convinced you are not worth your tears? Do you let your tears /nose run before the mirror in the bathroom or bury your head in your hands and just stay on the toilet seat motionless? Do you ever just stand in the shower and let the water run as you drift away in deep thought as you wet your face? Do you find yourself unsure how to express the way you feel and the only resort is the bathroom, alone with your tears. Do you ever give yourself the look, You know that look – the one where you see yourself and flinch away…and you are so tired and empty and drained that you just want to sit down and cry. Is this the start or end to most of your days. There’s got to be a better way.

Do you catch yourself praying that no one walks into the bathroom while you break, do you wash your face and walk out like nothing happened yet deep down a big apart of you is falling apart? Today i want you to know that you are not alone.

You are allowed to act vulnerable, to admit when something is bothering you, even when it seems like the rest of the world is bragging about how little they care. You are allowed to break down , to cry, to just let it all out.  You should never be ashamed about crying in the bathroom, BUT,  you should remember , you don’t have to cry in bathrooms. You can cry out in the open. You can cry on shoulders. You don’t have to put on a brave face. You don’t have to lie about being fine. You don’t have to act like you are unbreakable, like nothing ever hurts your feelings. You are only human. You are allowed to break down. You are allowed to get upset. You are allowed to cry your eyes out, even over something silly, something you cannot imagine anyone else understanding

Allow yourself to be vulnerable when other people are watching. Allow yourself to unleash your emotions, to open the floodgates and admit you are not okay, instead of hiding your real emotions behind a mask. You don’t have to escape into the bathroom every time you cry.  You don’t have to squash any emotion you experience other than happiness. You don’t have to act like a robot because you are worried someone will accuse you of overreacting, of causing drama where there isn’t any, of being a baby.  Your emotions are valid. Your reaction is valid. No one else can tell you how you should feel. If they disrespect your feelings, if they act like you are a bother for coming to them with your problems, then it says more about them than it does about you. It says they are toxic. It says they are not worth your energy. You are allowed to have shitty days. You are allowed to complain. You are allowed to feel like an emotional mess.

Everyone has days where they feel like everything has gone wrong, where they aren’t sure how many more setbacks they can take.  Everyone has broken down in the middle of a work week, or in the middle of traffic . You just don’t realize it because they are hiding in bathrooms, too. They are pretending to be fine, the same way as you are. It doesn’t have to be that way. You don’t have to act heartless in order to fit in with everyone else. You don’t have to hide behind your sarcasm to seem cool. You don’t have to act like everything rolls off your back, like words could never hurt you, like you are immune to emotion.

You are allowed to get angry, to get sad, to get frustrated. You are allowed to call someone out when they upset you instead of crying about it as soon as they leave the room. You are allowed to say what’s on your mind. The right people are not going to get scared off when you show genuine emotion. They are going to be flattered you trust them enough to be real with them. They are going to be honored to help you in any way they can. You should never be ashamed about crying in the bathroom, but you should remember , you don’t have to cry in bathrooms. You don’t have to cry alone. You can cry out in the open. You can cry on shoulders