How to Make Your Holiday Wonderful
Don't want to spend a holiday alone feeling blue?
1 Don't Force Cheer
At family gatherings, when your relatives make some untruthful compliments (赞美), you will probably try to force a smile. But a 2011 study by researchers at Michigan State University might make you think twice. They followed dozens of bus drivers for two weeks, looking to see when they force a happy face at their passengers. The results showed that on days when the drivers tried to pretend to have a good mood, their actual moods got worse.
2 Don't Suppress (压制) Sadness
The results of the bus-driver study can be explained by researchers from Stanford University, who found that negative feelings like sadness or anger only worsen when we try to suppress them. Expressing our sadness can help us get comfort and compassion from those who care about us. By contrast, suppressing our emotions can actually harm our relationships.
3 Respond Mindfully
When you respond mindfully to an emotional trigger (诱因), you pause rather than reacting. Instead of blaming yourself, you simply notice what you're feeling without judging that response as right or wrong. Studies suggest that a mindful response to a negative event reduces the amount of negative emotions we experience.
Inevitably, the holidays will bring a mix of highs and lows. Perhaps the most important lesson to keep in mind is that this variety of emotions might be the best thing possible for your overall well-being.
A. A smile might seem like the most mature response.
B. And mindfulness is a skill you can develop over time.
C. So trying to hide their feelings seems to lead to an opposite result.
D. Psychological research suggests some effective ways to help beat the holiday blues.
E. Instead, if properly understood, they can help contribute to a healthy and happy life.
F. Recently, scientists have been paying special attention to the benefits of mindfulness.
G. That's because we feel worse when we try to control and hide our negative inner feelings.
