Comments on: A taste of Life http://fourtran.com/2007/11/14/a-taste-of-life/ (actually, three Trans and a Cao) Sat, 22 Nov 2008 09:57:30 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.2.1 By: Amy http://fourtran.com/2007/11/14/a-taste-of-life/#comment-149 Amy Tue, 27 Nov 2007 06:53:52 +0000 http://fourtran.com/2007/11/14/a-taste-of-life/#comment-149 You are a strong woman. I think many of us do this. I don't like to let people see me cry. It certainly makes us human. We can only take so much and sometimes we just need that release. You are a strong woman. I think many of us do this. I don’t like to let people see me cry. It certainly makes us human. We can only take so much and sometimes we just need that release.

]]> By: Nikki http://fourtran.com/2007/11/14/a-taste-of-life/#comment-145 Nikki Thu, 15 Nov 2007 19:56:57 +0000 http://fourtran.com/2007/11/14/a-taste-of-life/#comment-145 What a thoughtful post. Thank you for writing. I know I have managed to live on both sides of that emotional pendulum in my life, and I continue to swing back and forth some as I mature. I think I went for three years without crying once -- ever -- but then I later managed to cry my way through the better part of a few months -- and believe me, it didn't matter where I was or with whom when the waterworks started. I have yet to have kids, so I haven't experienced their humanizing effect, but I have had a lot of situations in life that have taught me that there is virtue in something other than a stiff upper lip. More importantly, perhaps, I have learned true empathy is an amazing gift. We can never really feel what others are feeling and experiencing, but we can recognize our own frailty and our own strength and our common humanity in them and their circumstances and allow ourselves to feel compassion. Sometimes that compassion leads to tears, and that, too, is beautiful. What a thoughtful post. Thank you for writing. I know I have managed to live on both sides of that emotional pendulum in my life, and I continue to swing back and forth some as I mature. I think I went for three years without crying once — ever — but then I later managed to cry my way through the better part of a few months — and believe me, it didn’t matter where I was or with whom when the waterworks started.

I have yet to have kids, so I haven’t experienced their humanizing effect, but I have had a lot of situations in life that have taught me that there is virtue in something other than a stiff upper lip. More importantly, perhaps, I have learned true empathy is an amazing gift. We can never really feel what others are feeling and experiencing, but we can recognize our own frailty and our own strength and our common humanity in them and their circumstances and allow ourselves to feel compassion. Sometimes that compassion leads to tears, and that, too, is beautiful.

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