Feeling sad is a necessary life lesson. It is worth your time to think about whether you were allowed to feel sad when you were young and how that may be influencing how you deal with sadness now as an adult.

If you believe you were permitted to deal with sadness as a child, think about what you learned from those experiences. How do you use what you learned now as an adult? 

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 it, given things to take your attention away from something sad, or kept from even knowing about sad things that happened?

If you think these “protections” actually deprived you of the opportunity to learn how to handle sadness as an adult, you can make a new decision about responding to sadness in a way that will work better for you.  

Will you criticize, ignore, deny, or offer support to your children, friends, or family members, as well as yourself?