Somewhere, somehow most of us have learned that a happy life means never having to feel anything other than positive emotions. When sadness visits, or anger, or disappointment, it feels sick, like something is wrong with us. It feels as though we are not enough, our lives are not enough. We try to distract from negatives and chase happy feelings, only to fall short again and again.

What if we could learn to work with these “negative” feelings in a way that better informs us? Accepting and being curious about the entire range of our emotions can help us become more compassionate, healthy and ultimately more resilient.