Negative emotions are necessary in your life. Even if you think that they do not make you feel good, there are really no ‘negative’ or ‘positive’ emotions, they are simply emotions and all of them help you to know how you feel at all times and if there is something in your life that should remain the same because you have you feel good. It can also happen the opposite, that something does not make you feel quite good and therefore, implies that there is something that you should value and change for your emotional well-being.

But in order to understand these emotions that do not make us feel quite right, we classify them as ‘negative emotions’. When someone tells you to stop thinking negative and only focus on the positive in things, it can be a double-edged sword. Because the positive is fine, of course, and it is important too, but the negative is necessary to be able to be well.

Negative emotions are beneficial

Negative emotions are beneficial because they can help you build an optimal and resourceful version of yourself and therefore learn to live your life more happily and more satisfactorily. Accepting negative emotions is the first step to understand what really happens to you and therefore, to be able to find the solutions that you need so much.

This is not to say that being negative is better than being positive, but there are times when you can afford to have some negativity in your life in order to help you achieve better results in any aspect of your life. The important thing about negative emotions is that you do not let yourself be dragged into a bottomless pit by them, but rather that you are aware of why you have them and what you should do to be better.

Therefore, the secret is to find the balance between positive and negative emotions. It is clear that positive emotions will generate a more pleasant feeling and will make you feel better than negative ones. But the negatives will help you to give importance to a positive state of mind.

Why it is good to have negative emotions

They are natural emotions

As a human being, feeling sad, stressed, have anxiety , fears … are natural consequences of the experiences you live every day. It is normal to feel this way and it is not bad for you to do so, as long as it helps you to improve yourself.

When someone says to you: ‘you should smile more’ it is because they are telling you that you can be better, therefore it is a sign that your mental and natural state can improve. We tell ourselves that we shouldn’t feel sad, anxious, or stressed when we really desperately need to let those feelings come out and be heard.

You can tell yourself that you want to smile more, but what you want is to cry … Well, if you feel that you must cry, do it, because otherwise you will be abusing yourself psychologically and will have a negative impact on your psychological well-being.

Make you aware of your reality

Negative emotions exist for a reason. They protect you, they will make you aware of the dangers in your life or that there is something that is not working well for you. For example, fear will help you react to danger, anxiety makes you aware of possible threats around you, if you have regrets it is because you have done something wrong to other people and you want to make amends, sadness makes you see that there is something that does not make you feel good, etc.

People change and improve when we really feel that something is making us unhappy and that we can’t take it anymore. Until that point is reached, change is difficult. Negative emotions drive you to act according to current circumstances and generate positive changes, such as anger. Anger is a negative emotion closely related to justice.

Negative emotions tell you that you are not happy with the path you are taking in your life and when they reach a certain level of intensity, they motivate us to act. That is why you have to listen to all emotions, also negative ones, because by regulating their intensity they will help you act in a correct way and restore your life.

Human beings feel positive and negative emotions and they are all emotions after all. The key to having a better life is understanding how much and how to use those emotions in the right way.