A new study examined different ways of coping with stress to see what makes us feel better when we’re struggling. Article from The Greater Good.

To be happier when we’re dealing with something tough, the common advice goes, we can consciously look for the bright side of life’s challenges. For example, we might reframe the thought, Why was I unlucky enough to have my bike stolen? as I’m lucky to get some insurance money to buy the newer bike I’ve been wanting. And when we do this, we will likely feel better about the incident.

But this popularized advice risks leaving the impression that we should be able to turn every negative into a positive. In reality, it can feel forced or even futile to tell ourselves upbeat stories about life’s biggest hardships. In a recent paper published in the journal Emotion, Wake Forest University psychologist Christian Waugh and his colleagues suggest a more authentic way to alleviate difficult emotions in such situations.

Read more here.