The Upshot of Feeling Bad

If you experience negative emotions, there's nothing wrong with you; there's everything right with you

I believe that all of our feelings, even the “bad ones,” are good for us when we experience them in the right proportions.

Anxiety motivates us to prepare for threats.

Anger compels us to correct injustices that can be fixed.

Sadness cues us to make new meaning after suffering a loss we can’t replace.

We evolved the ability to experience negative emotions for a reason—they help us manage life’s curveballs.

Of course, our negative emotions are often triggered too intensely or last too long, which is when shifting becomes such a vital skill. And as you look around the world right now, it’s hard to imagine a more time to learn how to shift. Help me spread the word! There are two easy ways to do so: share SHIFT with others and leave a review on Amazon (reviews help ensure that the algorithm displays SHIFT to others).

If you want to learn more about SHIFT, check out my website: www.ethankross.com or any of these recent pieces. This New York Times article offers a few examples of how to shift while this Big Think piece nicely explores how we’ve approached shifting historically (it’s wild!). You can also tune into a fun conversation about the benefits of avoidance (and other novel ways to shift) over at NPRs Lifekit.

More on shifting soon!

A sample of recent events from the road!

Warmly,
Ethan