Sadness as an emotion is one that I can describe as the forming of dark clouds in the sky. Naturally, we all have the ability to express ourselves through various emotions like joy, happiness, anger, fear and sadness. The ability to feel these emotions is a sign that we are still in touch with our humanity.
Sadness has been defined as an emotion characterised by grief, sorrow and unhappiness. It often befall us when there is a loss of someone dear to us or loss of something important or even when someone treats us badly. We can also feel sad when certain expectations are not met or when certain things don't go as planned. All the same, sadness is an outlet emotion, one that allows us to deal with the pain we might be feeling and this is okay as long as it doesn't cross over to depression.
I would find a person who is laughing and smiling, after having lost a loved one as abnormal. I know that not all of us respond to grief the same way. Some cry, some wail, some keep a somber expression, some become moody but no normal person laughs at the death of a loved one except that person is a sociopath or that person is the one responsible for the death.
In as much as it is important to feel sad, to express pain, grief or sorrow, I don't think it should be allowed to continue for long. There should be a limited amount of time to feel sad but it shouldn't linger or else it will develop into clinical depression which would call for medical attention and that is not a good place to be in at all.
Things I do to fight the gloom.
Whenever I am sad, I first try to think on what led to it. I try to decipher if the sadness was caused by my actions or inactions or if it came because of someone else's actions or inactions. Once that is established, the process of overcoming the sadness becomes easy.
I recall a time when my supervisor at work yelled at me in front of other workers for something I didn't do. I tried explaining what happened to him but he cut me off and kept yelling. I felt pained by what he did, after all he wrongly accused me. I tried to go on as if nothing happened but it was difficult as I was hurt and this made me sad. Two days later, the truth was discovered but this supervisor could not even apologise for his error. This heightened my sadness and for one week I lost the zeal to report to work. My work was affected as I began to come in late, i barely interacted with my colleagues. I replied anyone who asked me anything in monosyllables and kept to myself. My work effectiveness began to dwindle and I eventually resigned.
Another thing I do is to leave that area where whatever made me feel sad is. I just go away from there to get a breather.
Other thing I do to shake off sadness is to cry. Yes, I find a quiet place and let the pain or grief I feel flow out through my tears. I've noticed that when I do this, I recover faster. Who says crying is for the weak. Crying is one of the most powerful channels given to humans to vent and release some intense emotions plus it helps clear the eyes too 😁.
Sometimes, I read motivational books or I go to #Youtube to watch comic videos and have a good laugh. Doing this also helps me recover from sadness. Taking long walks to clear my head also helps me to overcome sadness. By the time I am done walking to wherever and back, I'll be too tired to remember what made me sad and ill finally sleep off, sadness forgootten.
The reason it is important to overcome sadness is because it makes me feel lethargic and unwilling to do anything which would eventually lead to unproductivity and it will also affect the way I interact with those around me, altering my mood, causing me to be gloomy and making me to not make the best of my day. Believe me, it is not a good feeling at all.
It is okay to be sad but it is also okay to not remain in that state of sadness for a long time. Shake it off, fight the gloom.
Thank you all for reading..shalom
Images were imagined with Meta Ai
