4 Ways Sadness Leads to Gladness
Sadness bangs on the door like uninvited relatives. You pretend you don’t hear the annoyance, but they keep a knocking. Maybe you pretend you’re happy to see them.
Reacting to something gives it control over you.
What if sadness leads to gladness?
4 ways sadness leads to gladness:
The path from sad to glad is a roundabout route. You sail east to get west.
#1. Sadness leads to gladness when you acknowledge sadness is part of life.
Deadlines are missed. Plans fall through. And sometimes you just wake up feeling blue.
There’s nothing wrong with feeling down. Sometimes you’re tired. Other times, you heard bad news. Give yourself a break. You don’t have to sing “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” when you lose a client. If it sucks, it sucks. And sometimes life sucks.
Tip: It’s leaderly to keep smiling. Don’t drag others into your dark space.
#2. Sadness leads to gladness when it motivates self-reflection.
Don’t ruminate. Practice structured self-reflection. Write a few lines in your journal.
- What does sadness want me to know about myself? Others? The world?
- I will rest by….
- How long have I felt blue?
- What’s one thing I can do today to build the life I hope to enjoy in the future?
#3. Sadness leads to gladness when you loosen your grip on control.
You control a few things. Don’t play dead because you can’t control everything.
Surrender is freeing.
Choose to live with an open hand instead of a clenched fist.
#4. Sadness leads to gladness when you receive support with gratitude.
Dark glasses might cause you to devalue the support you receive. Your team wants you to thrive. So does your boss. Someone in the world is ready to help you thrive.
Notice supporters.
What do you do when you wake up feeling blue?
What do you do when team members feel blue?
Related articles:
3 Ways to Confront Unrealistic Optimism
“The Vagrant,” teaches people how to engage in structured self-reflection. I encourage you to get your copy today. The story is compelling and the exercises at the end set readers on a life-changing journey. Click here to purchase, The Vagrant, on Amazon.
Everything changes when we change the way we think about ourselves.
Thank you Dan, I really needed this.
Thanks for your note, Jackie. Steady on.
Hi Dan,
“Don’t play dead because you can’t control everything.” WOW good stuff for me, today. (Any day) . Thank you !
Thanks, Cate. Sometimes we’re all or nothing when we don’t have to be. At least I default to an all or nothing approach. As I think about, it’s actually very limiting. Cheers.
I’m with my mother on the journey that life takes as a parent ages. This speaks to me today.
It seems that children become parents to their parents as time passes. She’s fortunate to have you. I wish you well, Eric.
Thanks for this, Dan. We had to let one of the original Three Cats (in Three Cats Marketing) go this week. But I’m remembering the great times we had together, and using it to remind myself to love on the people in my life, because you never know what the future holds.
I can relate to the Leadership Freak blog piece on how melancholy may give rise to happiness. I once went through a difficult time that at first made me unhappy, but in the end it gave me opportunity to grow and gain new experiences. Check out https://echelonfront.com/books/ book selections for further reading on this subject. Books about perseverance and conquering obstacles are included in Echelon Front’s suggested reading list, providing insightful guidance for leaders managing challenging emotions.