How do I keep from crying?

Try to pass it off as a result from a big yawn. When I yawn it makes me tear. So if something I’d about to make me cry I just make a big, fake yawn.

There was a discussion about this previously. Maybe it will help.

distract yourself, look at the ceiling or focus on a spot on the wall

Thanks for the answers and @kevbo thanks for the link. I did find it helpful, there are times that something will really catch me off guard. Also some songs are just so beautiful they also bring on the tears. By the way, I absolutely hate to cry, I always get a terrible headache after the tears.

I also cry easily. It can be really annoying to cry at a commercial when I know I am just being manipulated. Hate those Hallmark Hall of Fame specials!

First, never buy into that claptrap about “you are too sensitive.” Turn it around: perhaps others who are making you cry are insensitive toads!

In the thread kevbo pointed out there were good answers (including his). gailcalled mentioned that women cry when they are angry. I have found this is true for me and for other women I have talked to. It is not true for men though so it puts women at a disadvantage in a workplace situation.

There is one other idea I might offer I did not see mentioned above or in that earlier thread that has worked for me. I once asked a singer who performed a lot of wonderful, but very sad songs how she got through them without crying. She said, “We sang them a thousand times while crying first.”

I have used that since. If I am going to talk to a boss at work and it is an emotionally explosive situation that I think might lead to tears, I practice what I am going to say over and over again in a mirror out loud until I can say it without any voice wobble or tears. Then I imagine the worst possible thing (in terms of triggering tears) the other person could say and practice hearing that and making my answer.

Think of something that makes you really angry. Refocus the sadness with an opposite emotion.

keep your eyes open, to the point that they’re drying out. that way, when you blink the tears will just go back into your eye or you pass it off as your eyes are itchy, allergies, or something else.

I tried to find a link for you, but I couldn’t, but I read once that if you force yourself to smile, it can keep the tears from falling. There seems to be something about the position of your facial muscles that helps you stop crying. I didn’t believe it at first, but I tried it and it worked! Make yourself smile a big cheesy grin, and make it so big that the outer corners of your eyes turn upward.

A cosmetologist showed me that pulling up on the outer corners of my eyes while applying makeup can stop tears so I won’t ruin my mascara if I get teary. Give it a try sometime. It couldn’t hurt!

@jstringham, you’re not really funny. 1. You assume this person is male, which is sexist, and 2. Everything else that’s wrong with what you’re saying.

Fluther is not the place for hurtful humor when people are here with real questions that are important to them.

Thanks for the great hints, I will try them all. Maybe even all at once! No, I’m not male, but that doesn’t really matter. My dad cried easily too, so did my grandfather. I guess you’d say they were “in touch with their feelings”, but it can be embarrassing and, at times, the last thing you want to reveal! I always found it interesting that my mother seldom cried, but I believe she was just as sensitive.

I appreciate all the advice, You’ve given me some great ideas to try.

It just shows that you come from a family of people with tender hearts, and that is something to be proud of. Don’t be embarrassed.

Yeah, I have a great teacher (whom i take classes with every semester and want to be when i grow up), and she is a self-proclaimed “cryer,” and often can cry two or three times a day. She actually teared up in class the other day when talking about the earthquake in china.

my point is, she’s doesn’t seem to be ashamed of it, and no one is like, “Oh, you cry all the time? how lame…” (imagine that in a girl’s fake-guy voice :).

but you know? i don’t think people with think as harshly about it as you may feel they will.

Thank you for your kind words, it is nice to hear that others have had similar experiences and understand.