BIG HEADACHE

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Is it possible to make someone who is unhappy happy? Do you feel like it is your responsibility to make the people around you happy?

I recently read that new studies (not sure who did the study) which shows that when someone is feeling down about something, it only makes things worse to try to cheer them up by trying to point out that they  might look at the situation differently. The study suggested that trying to give people the positive spin on what they feel is negative only makes them feel worse.

The study also posits that people who are feeling down have to discover their own joy and that sometimes it helps simply to agree with them that “the situation sucks”. I am not sure but maybe the empathy frees them up to discover their own view of possible positive dimensions to their situation.

I think author Irene Beckerman’s grandmother said it best when she told her granddaughter, "If you have to stand on your head to make somebody happy, all you can expect is a big headache.”

This insight might be a new and inexpensive remedy to one of the most common pains that humans experience.