CRYING OVER BROKEN WATER BOTTLES

A couple of days ago I dropped my water bottle and it cracked. Under normal circumstances this would have been such an insignificant event in my life; I’d just dispose of it and move on. The water bottle was of no sentimental value to me and I could easily just get a new one. It wasn’t a big deal and yet, for some reason, I cried over it.

Crying isn’t an obscure activity for me these days. I never used to be the type of person to cry over anything and everything, but recently I’ve found that even the slightest negative occurrence in my life can make those tears flow. Reflecting on my broken water bottle now (as I sit here with my new one), I can’t help but feel silly to have gotten so worked up over something so unimportant. 

TRYING TO MAKE SENSE OF MY OWN MIND

It’s strange because I feel like I’m pretty emotionally stable and then out of nowhere I will just start crying. So I began digging for some answers: how can I be okay one minute, and then the next I’m sobbing over a broken water bottle that I have no attachment to? Conversations with friends and family over this past year made me realise that it’s not just me who feels more emotional than they did pre-pandemic. The pandemic has had us all stressed for various different reasons and we all deal with this in different ways.

According to psychologist Dr. Pamela Rutledge, “stress causes fatigue, which diminishes our ability to self-regulate. This makes us more vulnerable to emotional exhaustion which can also make us quicker to cry.” I feel like this is the first time I’m acknowledging to myself that maybe I am emotionally exhausted. 

STRESS CAN MAKE US MORE EMOTIONAL

My way of dealing with stress usually involves ignoring the problem. I tend to convince myself everything is still going to plan and never truly acknowledge when I’m feeling down. This method, whilst certainly not recommended, used to work fine for me. But now it feels like my mind is overflowing with worrying thoughts. Six months after losing my job I’m still out of work, we’re in a never-ending lockdown cycle, and in a financial and professional sense I feel like my whole life has come to a complete standstill. All of this is obviously taking an emotional toll on me, even if I’m not always aware. 

This water bottle incident, despite it being a completely insignificant event, helped me come to the realisation that emotionally I’m really struggling right now. It’s a hard thing to realise and accept about yourself, which is why I wanted to share this post. I don’t know how to fix this, but what I do know is that I need to spend more time focusing on my mental health and practicing self-care. Crying can be a great emotional release, but if you find yourself crying about trivial things maybe you need to step back and reflect on your mental well-being.

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P.S. I hope you’re all happy and healthy.