【推荐2】There will be times in life when you find yourself angry because of something that someone did or a situation you are in. Or you may be in a situation where other people are getting upset with you or someone else. Feeling angry is a normal emotion for everyone.     1     You can use humor to release anger if you develop your sense of humor and recognize anger when it arises in yourself or someone.

Keep funny things with you. You can develop your sense of humor by surrounding yourself with things that make you laugh, or at least smile.     2    

Pay attention to others. If you are aware of how the people around you are feeling, you will know when tension is rising. You will also be able to tell if using humor is the right way to try to decrease the anger the people around you are feeling. Listen to what people are saying when they are talking to you.     3    

Joke about the situation. Don’t try to use humor to release anger by making fun of someone else. It’s okay to find humor in the situation. It’s not okay to say things that can hurt someone’s feelings, even if it is true or funny.     4    

Be sensitive. Some jokes or forms of humor may be funny to you, but inappropriate to others. Before you use humor to release anger, make sure that what you are saying won’t offend anyone.     5     It may be okay to use humor in the situation, but make sure it is tasteful.

【推荐3】Although many years have passed, I still remember the last year of my junior school. I had to prepare for the entrance test, which made me stressed (有压力的). I cried several nights.

When we are feeling very stressed, many of us may feel like crying. Shedding tears is a good way to deal with our “dark” emotions (情绪). When we cry, we are letting go of our stress, I certainly felt better after I had cried. After I had calmed myself down, I reached out to some friends and teachers who encouraged me. I managed to get an offer from a qualified senior school.

With increased competition, it isn’t surprising that many students today are feeling stressed out. Many of us think of our “dark” emotions to be our enemies (敌人). It appears silly for us to be so easily beaten by them. That’s why we might feel too shy to cry. When we are feeling sad, we may also have difficulty asking for help or talking to others.

“Dark” emotions are not in themselves a bad thing. Just like happiness, they are common. But you should certainly find ways to manage them. Try to take part in social events. Eat healthy, balanced meals. Find people who can support you. Exercise regularly. These things can all help. The most important thing, though, is to accept your feelings. They are nothing to be ashamed of.

【推荐1】Watching humorous videos on the Internet at work isn’t always a waste of time. According to Ruby Nadler, a Ph.D. student at the University of Western Ontario, “Generally, positive mood has been found to enhance creative problem solving and flexible yet careful thinking.” She and her colleagues published new research in the Psychological Science.

Students in the study were put into various moods before being given a category learning assignment to complete (they learned to classify sets of pictures with visually complex patterns). The researchers used music and video clips to alter people’s moods; initially, they tested out a few to see which ones made individuals the happiest and saddest. The happiest music was a cheerful Mozart composition, while the happiest video was a newborn laughing.

The researchers then used them in the experiment, along with sad music and video (a piece of music from Schindler’s List and a news report about an earthquake) and music and video that had no effect on mood. People were required to learn to detect a pattern after listening to the music and seeing the movie. Volunteers who were happy were better at learning a rule to categorize the patterns than those who were sad or indifferent.

“If you have a project where you want to think innovatively, or you have a problem to carefully consider, being in a positive mood can help you to do that,” Nadler says. And music is a simple method to put yourself in a good mood. Everyone responds to various types of music, so don’t feel it a must to switch to Mozart, she adds.

【推荐3】Nobody likes to feel negative emotions: Anger, jealousy and regret can all be overwhelming. In fact, we dislike feeling negative emotions so much that some of us will do anything to avoid them, from adopting a sense of denial to turning to food or work as a distraction.

Deep down we know that we can’t be joyful all the time, so why do we have such a problem with the less-than-favorable feelings? It’s natural for people to avoid or suppress negative emotions. We are biologically programmed above all else to survive, to keep ourselves safe; therefore, anything that our brain perceives as something out of our comfort zone, something that might harm us in any way is usually avoided. This is the default in-built programming we have inherited from our ancestors.

However, when we do, things don’t always work out well for us. “When we bury our emotions, they inevitably end up reappearing elsewhere further down the line,” says Dr. Elena Touroni, a consultant psychologist of The Chelsea Psychology Clinic. “Burying them in this way can cause a whole host of different issues and symptoms such as headaches and anxiety.”

Not only can burying our less-desirable emotions impact our well-being, but it also prevents us from enjoying the well-being rewards coming along with these emotions. Actually, it’s a sign of emotional well-being to be able to acknowledge and stay with the uncomfortable feelings instead of pushing them away or denying them. Negative emotions can be wonderful signposts if we pay attention to them. For example, a feeling of dread, uncertainty or fear in any working environment might be a great sign that you need to start to consider changing that environment.

Our emotions are a big part of being human and they serve an important function—even the difficult ones. As Elena says: “Without negative emotions, we would struggle to know our boundaries, how to keep ourselves safe, what hurts us or makes us happy. They can guide us toward making decisions that serve us in the long term.”