I recently wrote a blog about understanding anger and I find that for myself, after having experienced a bout of anger, I shift into what I’ve dubbed a “rage hangover” which leaves me depleted, tired and, essentially, in a deep feeling of sadness.

Sadness is also often a result of another feeling, such as anger, stress, guilt, grief, anxiety or hopelessness. Sometimes, the other feeling may be so strong that you don’t realize that beneath it all, what you really are is sad. Gottman’s Feeling Wheel is a great resource to help name your feelings.

Today is my birthday and I was originally planning a whole week dedicated to the emotion of sadness, but this past week’s posts about anger have resonated so much with many folks, that I’m going to extend it for another week and push the next emotion of sadness out to the beginning of August.

It might seem strange to share a blog about sadness on my birthday, and my reasoning is that I often feel sad in the lead-up to the celebration of my birth. 

I wasn’t always like this!