I’m often asked this question through the “Ask Kay” portal: When I feel sad how are some ways I can overcome this emotion? Here is my answer…
Sadness is natural and good and important an emotion to feel. It has its time and place, and it’s critical you let yourself be sad when you need to instead of trying to distract yourself or avoid it.
Though, it doesn’t feel good to be sad for a really long time, so its natural to want to feel better as fast as possible.
Before you do anything, you might want to ask yourself: Why do I feel sad?
Listen to your internal answer to that question and then before you do anything accept how you feel. Accepting and acknowledging your authentic feelings is the first step in moving past them. You want to acknowledge how you feel, give yourself the clearance be okay with it, and then make a conscious choice to overcome it.
Sometimes you simply want to allow your self to be sad. Some people aren’t very good at doing this. They’ve learned to push this emotion away. But, there are times when it’s important and necessary to cry and sulk for a bit. So, you may want to let yourself do that first.
Nevertheless, here are some simple ways you can overcome feelings of sadness easily.
How to overcome feelings of sadness
1.Be grateful. You can’t be sad when your grateful. These two emotions can’t be felt at the same time. So a quick way to feel better is to be grateful.
Take a moment to close your eyes and think of one or more things you are grateful for. It can be as simple as the heart beating in your chest or the tree outside. Gratitude is an easy way to get happy.
2.Go be with people. Spending time in an environment surrounded by people or actively engaged with people is often a great way to get happy. Interactions with people stimulate dopamine in the brain.
3.Go for a run or do some high intensity aerobic activity. Once again, this stimulates happy brain chemicals that last for hours after you workout.
4.Uncover the fear underlying the sadness. All intense emotions are rooted in fear. If you ask yourself: What’s the fear underlying these sad feelings, it can help you gain some clarity on the root of the cause of what’s making you sad. And sometimes, simply being aware of this can help you overcome it.
5. Create something to look forward to in your near future. Plan to do something you love later that day or in a few days, and then focus on that thing. Any time you start to feel sad again shift your thoughts to the fun time to come in your near future.
Ask yourself: Why do I feel sad? Then, listen to your answer. Once you define what’s causing the emotion you’ll be better able to decide what you need to deal with it.
