The sun’ll come out tomorrow. You may not be able to see it because of cloud cover. Positive thinking is big business and is mostly good for us. It can also prevent us from dealing with reality. If we all think positively there can be an empathy deficit. Instead of listening to people who are feeling sad, we try to cheer them up. We deny how they are feeling. Professor Joseph Forgas from the University of New South Wales says that mild sadness can improve recall of everyday events, make people more sceptical and make us less likely to make quick judgements based on stereotypes. Also people who are feeling sad are better at detecting deception, better at fault finding and more persuasive at winning arguments. The main point is that sad is not so bad. Be sad rather than deny it and use the mood to help you. Don’t try to change the mood. Just accept that it is where you are and know that it has advantages as do all moods and feelings. Sunshine is not better than rain, it’s just sunshine. Bad weather is not bad. It’s just weather.
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