Sad feelings can produce important life lessons. Think about feeling sad when you were a child. If you believe you were not permitted to deal with sadness as a child, think about how you were protected from sadness. Were you talked out of those feelings, given things to take your mind off of the sadness, or kept from even knowing about sad things that  happened?

If you were permitted to deal with sadness as a child, think about what you learned from doing so. In your life today, how do you use what you learned from those experiences? Celebrate the opportunity you had to learn what you did. 

Ask yourself how you want to handle sadness with your own child, if it becomes necessary.