How comfortable are you with sadness?
What about the sadness of others? Learning to be with our emotions is often more challenging (and necessary) than we realize.
In her new book, How to Be Sad, journalist and author Helen Russell writes,
If we aim to avoid sadness, even a little, we limit our existence and put ourselves at greater risk of normal sadness tipping over into something more serious. Suppressing negative or depressive thoughts, to the extent that many of us probably do on a daily basis, has been proven to backfire spectacularly, resulting in depressive symptoms, according to studies.
Sadness is defined as the natural response to emotional pain, feelings of loss, helplessness, hopelessness, or disappointment. Sadness is normal. It’s also inevitable, writes Russell. Moreover, sadness has a point. It can tell us when something is wrong if we let it. Sadness is the temporary emotion we all feel when we’ve been hurt, or something is wrong in our lives.
