Negative emotions like fear, sadness and anger are a basic part of life. Sometimes we struggle with how to deal with these emotions effectively, but there are ways to respond and cope with negative feelings in productive way.

Try the four steps to tackle negative emotions.

1. Pause. 
Instead of acting on feelings right away, stop yourself and think things through. Count to 100 or say the alphabet backwards.

2. Acknowledge what you’re feeling. 
Are you mad at someone or are you sad because your feelings were hurt by what they did? Whatever it is that you are feeling, it is ok to feel that way.

3. Think. 
Now that you have taken a few moments to figure out what exactly it is that you are feeling, think about how you can make yourself feel better.

4. Help. 
Take an action to help yourself based upon what you came up with in the “Think” step.

~Mental Health America