Heartless = Hurt-less?

Today, someone told me I am heartless and have no emotions. Of course, it was not as harsh as it sounds, because they were just speaking in reference to the fact that I did not cry at some silly 'tear-jerker' movie. But still, there may be some truth to what they said. I have never really been one to express emotion or become easily upset or excited over something. Emotional movies or sappy sad love songs have never really gotten to me, I am not affected by them. Sad true stories will rarely bring up strong emotion either.

Perhaps part of the reason is that I have never experienced extreme troubles in my life, so I do not relate so much. I have never lost a loved one, I have never had my heart broken, and nothing too terrible has really happened to me. I consider myself extremely lucky, but I also wonder if that is what leaves me lacking that emotional and sympathetic nature.

Being less-than-emotional is part of who I am, and I do not think it is an all bad part of my personality. I believe it is evidence that I am a strong person. I think it is a good thing I am not reduced to tears just because a character in a movie died a tragic death. I think if it is difficult to upset me, that will be good for when I do face trials at some point in my life that I can remain strong and not get upset over things. By not being upset and emotional, I can keep a clear head and continue to think logically while others may be blinded by raw emotion or too upset to even function.

While I do believe my ability to surpass emotion and remain level-headed is a strength, it still hurts a little to be told I have no emotions. I definitely think I have PLENTY of emotions, I feel like in the past few months especially I have felt a wide range of very strong emotions. I think I just have found emotions to be very dangerous when they are too strong or uncontrolled. I have found that you should be the one in control of your own emotions, not someone else, and your emotions should never have total control over you. So maybe my restraint of emotion comes off as being 'heartless' to others, but in the end I do believe it benefits myself.