1 . The pain we feel may be nature’s way of telling us it’s time to take notice of our inner selves. Should you be facing painful times, we urge you to reach out to get the help and support you need.     1     Maybe you feel you shouldn’t expose your pain since you’re supposed to be cool and act like you can handle things. Even though you may feel that no one can help you get over your pain, the important thing is to reach out. Here are some positive ways to deal with pain.

●    2     Talking about what hurts is an important first step. Even if you feel that no one can do anything to make the hurt go away, talking to someone you trust can ease the weight of painful feelings.

●Keep a journal. This is a good way to measure your progress in “getting to the other side” of things.     3     That way when you read how you felt about something a week or a month ago, and then read how you feel about it today, you’ll see how you are progressing. Should you feel things aren’t getting better, that is good information, too.     4    

●Be extra good to yourself. Especially when life hurts, it’s time to take extra good care of yourself. Get enough rest, eat properly, get the exercise your body needs to burn off the tension, listen to soft music, and don’t forget those extra hugs for your pet.     5     Be sure to be that for yourself, as well.

●See a professional counselor (咨询师). Seeing a trained professional is an excellent way to work through painful times. Ask your parents or school counselor to help you find one.

2 . Fears are a normal part of childhood. Sometimes kids are afraid of imaginary things, like monsters. But often, fears are related to what’s going on in their lives. Learning to cope with fear isn’t always easy.     1     They may have trouble processing information and keeping emotions in check. Here are some things you can try to help your child manage fears.

Take the fear seriously.

Sometimes to help our kids, we say things like “There’s nothing to be scared of.”     2     Instead , it can send the message that you expect your child to “get over it.” Or that you don’t believe your child is terrified. Not taking fear seriously can make your child feel like it’s not okay to be afraid or that it’s not okay to talk to you about it.

Make a list.

Work with your child to list the things or situations that cause fear. Go over your child’s worst-case scenario(情况).     3     For example, kids who are afraid that something terrible will happen to their parents when they’re apart may also be frightened to go to school. They might be scared to be left with a babysitter. Those are all part of the more significant fear of being away from you.

Break the fear into smaller pieces.

Tackling a fear all at once can be difficult.     4     Maybe your child is afraid to do schoolwork in one room while you work in another room. Agree that your child will do an hour of work away from you by the end of next week. Once you’ve set the goal, talk through the steps you’ll both take to reach it.

Cheer your child on.

    5     When your child faces a fear, let your child know how proud you are. Give encouragement, be patient, and praise your child’s efforts and successes. By sending the message that progress matters, you’re helping your child build a growth mindset and believe in the power of the word yet.

4 . Many would consider emotions to be a barrier to decision-making and, therefore, think that they would be better off without them. However, the latest research has proved that our emotions will drive the conclusions we make, and that our well-being may depend upon our ability to understand and interpret them.     1     Here are some suggestions.

Start by understanding your emotions.     2     This mindful process of self-examination is important for healthy decisions, since emotions can influence our views and judgments.

Emotions can act as a compass (指南针), pointing you toward what matters most to you. However, strong emotions can affect our judgment and make it challenging to think objectively and critically.     3     You should be aware that emotions that arise from past experiences might cloud your judgment. Separate the present situation from the past and focus on the relevant factors.

    4     However, they should be connected with factual information. Take your time to gather crucial information before making important decisions. Analyse the pros and cons (利弊) of your options to make the best possible decisions.

It’s beneficial to expand your viewpoint. When you see the big picture and are focused on your highest purpose, you are not distracted by smaller issues. Figuring out your deepest long-term goals and pursuing them will channel your emotions toward peace and harmony.     5    

To sum up, emotions play a significant role in decision-making and, when used properly, they can improve the effectiveness of the decision-making process.

5 . Self-criticism (自我批评) is a mental habit of negatively analyzing and judging ourselves and our actions. If we don’t find a way to overcome self-criticism, we won’t be able to live a happy and satisfying life.     1    .

Thought stopping is one of the best secrets of how to overcome self-criticism. Interrupting your thoughts helps you change how you think about yourself, thus helping you feel better.     2    . However, with enough practice, you will make it.

Another strategy is to replace negative self-critical thoughts with positive realistic statements. For instance, if you set a goal, be realistic about it by giving yourself enough time to achieve it. In fact, having a constant desire to achieve immediate success can ruin your confidence.

Another secret is to let go of the need to be perfect. It’s all right to set high standards for yourself.     4    . In addition, desiring to be perfect in everything you pursue can prevent your progress.

    5    . However, it’s important to note that comparing yourself to your peers, friends, or family can increase dissatisfaction and unhappiness. That said, the best tip on how to overcome self-criticism is to practice self-acceptance.

8 . They say you catch more flies with honey than vinegar. But when it comes to tackling a tricky task, researchers have found that getting angry can also be a powerful motivator.

The experiments suggest people who are angry perform better on a set of challenging tasks than those who are emotionally neutral.

The study, published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, details how researchers at Texas A&M University conducted experiments involving more than 1,000 people, and analysed survey data from more than 1,400 people to explore the possible impact of anger on people in various circumstances.

In one experiment, students were shown images previously found to cause anger, desire, amusement, sadness or no particular emotion at all. Participants were subsequently asked to solve a series of anagrams (变形词).

The results reveal that for a challenging set of anagrams, those who were angry did better — although no difference was seen for easy anagrams.

The researchers say one explanation could be down to a link between anger and greater persistence (坚持), with the team finding those who were angry spent more time on the difficult set of anagrams.

In another experiment, participants who were angry did better at avoiding flags in a skiing video game than those who were neutral or sad, and were on a par with (同水平) those who felt amusement or desire.

“This pattern could indicate that general physical arousal (激起) had a benefit for game scores, as this would be greater in anger, amused, and desire conditions compared to the sad and neutral conditions,” the researchers write. However, no such differences in performance was found when it came to an easier video game.

“People often prefer to use positive emotions as tools more than negative and tend to see negative emotions as undesirable,” said Lench, the first author of the study. “Our research adds to the growing evidence that a mix of positive and negative emotions promotes wellbeing, and that using negative emotions as tools can be particularly effective in some situations.”