I spoke to a male friend the other day. As he was speaking I wondered how many other men felt this way. Do all men tend to not speak up in relationships?
I know we have all been responsible for perceiving men as strong, together, etc., but who said that men can’t be vulnerable? Did we as a society forget that men are human? Or has it been women and the feminine that has somehow helped to carve the male persona of being strong, being there when we need, having the mentality of “yes honey” but not bringing up fear, hurt, pain, or depression when they begin to feel this?
So, my Dad died when he was around 86 and my Mom died when she was 90. I can remember both my parents growing up and watching how they reacted and responded to things. I could see how my Dad carried grief after his best friend passed and how my parents kept that stuff hidden and pushed it down and never spoke about it openly.
I have learned though, through study of trauma and mental health that holding onto emotions, and not being authentic is truly like having a “ticking time bomb” inside of you. You may try to push things down, not speak your truth or become the passive one, but holding onto those feelings and emotions and just “putting up” with things is going to cause trouble for you down the road. Where you hold on to stress within your body, and you do hold stress in your body, that will one day transform into a physical ailment or disease. That’s why it is critical to deal with your emotions and feelings and become authentic.
I think sometimes we have an idea in our mind, a perspective and we perceive that something bad will happen or we will be rejected, laughed at, etc. if we speak our truth and are vulnerable. I believe that we build things up to be worse than they are. So what if you tell your partner that you are feeling scared, vulnerable, or unhappy? What if they did support you and listen without judgment? After all, men are human beings as well. We need to speak our truth and act authentically to have peace within us.
Communication is so powerful and such a gift when it is used to guide, correct, and lead. There are ways to speak and share thoughts and feelings without feeling that you will be chastized for it. As a couple, carve out time that you are completely free, completely present, put down the phones, turn off the tv and sit or walk and decide to take an hour or even 30 mins to share how your day went, how you are feeling and what you need from your partner to help you through it.
I would think of a relationship or marriage as being a co-founder of a company and it is crucial to make sure the company is running smoothly and that your employees are happy. You have to get comfortable addressing the hard topics and get comfortable with the dissatisfaction of the people in the company, but once you know what the challenges or problems are, you can get down to correcting what needs to be corrected.
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