8 ideas to manage sadness
Several ideas to keep in mind to develop a healthy relationship with sadness.
Happiness has become the impossible yearning of those who run away from unpleasant emotions at full speed, fleeing without knowing where or why.fleeing without knowing where, or why. At least consciously.
"You are here to be happy" 4.2 billion dollars have been spent by a well-known soft drink brand to make us understand it. The reality is different.
Sadness, the great enemy
We know that happiness and joy are not the same thing and that sooner or later the sadness sooner or later appears on the scene sadness, an emotion more unpleasant than negative..
This emotion appears when we have the feeling of having lost something valuable, be it a person, an object, or even an opportunity (who has not felt sad when an illusion has fallen, or when we realize that we are not the same person we were before the pandemic)? The loss does not have to be perceived as irreversible, and the more significant the loss is for us, the more sadness we will feel.
Sadness helps us to be introspective, to analyze a situation without excessive optimism and to evaluate a problem.. Socially, it invites others to empathize with us and encourages help.
In addition, we are less demanding with those who are sad, because it works as a safeguard against responsibilities or schedules (sometimes too profitable for the one who is sad!).
When it comes with force, it does not come alone. It is followed by feelings of lack of physical and mental vitality, loss of enthusiasm and slowing of the metabolism.
Here are some suggestions on how to deal with sadness.
Here are several key ideas for learning to manage sadness.
1. Sadness is part of the emotional rainbow that we can feel.
Receive the emotion and reflect on what it tells you.. If you try to avoid it, it will reappear. In general, when we talk about emotions, "what you throw out the door comes back through the window".
Ashamed of being sad?
When we are told "don't cry", "be a man"... we learn to hide our sadness as if it were part of something that is not normal. Try sharing it! Socializing emotions helps us to manage them. Feeling understood makes our sadness less intense so that we can detach from it and look at the situation more objectively.
3. It doesn't matter if you don't know very well where it comes from and where it goes!
Sometimes we get stuck in the "need" to solve our sadness; that is, to know perfectly well where it comes from. This excess of analysis can cause a certain paralysisWe get into a vicious circle from which it is difficult to get out.
4. Take time to be sad
You don't have to sink if you live the emotion. It's not that dangerous.
5. Manage your time before making decisions
If you have important decisions to make, consider postponing them if you think that sadness has taken hold of you.
6. Don't forget the physical aspect
Get the best sleep you can, exercise, and get involved in the activities you like to do or used to like to do. This point is crucial.
People often say "since I'm sad, I don't do what I like because I won't have the same time". Go against this scheme, do things despite being sad! This doesn't mean that you don't have moments to embrace sadness, it's not a call to avoid it.
7. Learn from past crises
Look back to those experiences where you felt failure, loss and Pain in the past and try to relate them to your current situation.
8. Pay attention to the thoughts that accompany sadness.
Often this emotion comes hand in hand with particular ways of approaching reality.. These "sadness glasses" are graduated so that life seems grayer than it is. Thus, sadness tells us that our successes are worth less than our failures, that things are harder than they are, that a mistake will have more painful consequences than it will, and that we have little ability to influence the outcomes we expect.
Concluding
The bottom line, to run away from sadness is to run away from a part of life.. Trying to amputate the pain will cause it to become more entrenched than necessary, causing it to stay with us like a phantom limb orbiting in our day-to-day lives.
As an inspiring Chinese proverb says: you can't stop the bird of sorrow from flying over your head, but you can stop it from nesting in your scalp.
(Updated at Apr 12 / 2024)