Feeling sad is a normal reaction to difficult and painful experiences. However, if you feel sad often or for a prolonged period and it starts affecting your everyday life, it could be a sign of something more serious, such as depression or a negative outlook on life.
Unrealistic beliefs about life and exaggerated expectations can lead to an inner sadness that consumes life. It is important to differentiate between sadness and sorrow. According to Evagrius the Solitary, sorrow is a necessary part of human growth, involving processing experiences of loss, while sadness is self-pity and is unproductive. Sorrow can weep but sadness cannot weep. Tears of sorrow can be transformed into tears of joy but sadness, based on unrealistic expectations, is whiny, wallowing in self-pity and a cynical outlook on life.[1]
Evagrius states, “People take refuge in self-pity when their wishes are not fulfilled. Sadness often conceals exaggerated wishes for life.”[2] If you find yourself often feeling sad, it is important to review and adjust your expectations from family, friends, and life, in general. For example, it is unrealistic to expect your friend to help you every time you are in need. If you are in a relationship, you may expect your significant other to be always available for you. It is important to recognize that your friend or your significant other is only human and not all-powerful, so may not be able to support you all the time. Understanding that your expectations may not always be met and accepting this as a normal part of life can lead to inner peace.
It is a lifelong process to move toward realistic understandings and healthy beliefs about life and others. Spending time in solitude and soul-searching with honest and genuine people can help enhance your self-awareness. This, in turn, can help you align your expectations and beliefs with what is healthier and more realistic.
Tears of sorrow after wards can bring relief. While sadness emotion's remain bottled up. Good subject enjoyed the easy reading.Thank you for your time sharing this.
ReplyDeleteIn fact I had not thought about the difference between sadness and sorrow. Thanks for clarification. Thanks for this piece
ReplyDeleteRelief is what tear glands are for, super important to allow allow sorrow to helps us heal
ReplyDeleteFeeling are part of everyday life. like a emotion, reaction, love, care, sensitive, action, etc. very nice topic
ReplyDeleteyou distinguished correctly between the two.emotions
ReplyDelete