That sounds like a dichotomy, doesn’t it? Everywhere we turn today there is news coverage of natural and man-made disasters that make us sad. Sad rips at our hearts and brings tears to our eyes. Who could look at the victims of an earthquake and not feel empathy and sadness for the families? Who could look at the aftermath of a suicide bomber at an American Embassy abroad and watch the service men and women in full dress blues carrying the caskets from a military jet? All this makes us angry with Mother Nature as well as extremists – but it also makes us sad. You can be having a happy moment with family and friends when that heart-wrenching commercial comes on television talking about the abused animals in a shelter that may never have another chance. The poor dogs look at the camera with sad brown eyes and the little kittens hold up their tiny paws in a mock salute. You stop laughing. How can you laugh when there is such suffering going on in your own nation? Sad things happen every minute of every day. People get sad. Do you know what this means? It means they are human. We are all born with a capacity for a wide range of emotions, and these emotions can vary from hour to hour. Humans get sad when they lose a loved one, when they go through a divorce, when they lose a job, when they lose their homes, and even when their favorite football team loses. This is also called life. When a person has sunken low into a time of sadness that last three weeks or more, it is time for professional help. For the rest of the population, just accept the feelings of sadness and ride with them until the next happy moment. We cannot be happy 24/7/365. We can be content maybe, but not happy. It is when we experience sad occurrences or when we see sad images that we come back and know what true happiness is. Yes, you see the floppy eared dog with the big brown eyes, but that is when your own four-legged family member comes up and shows off for you until you laugh. He has made you happy and you count your blessings that you have this animal in your life and he is healthy. You see the earthquake victims amid all the rubble and feel sad for them. As you look around your own sturdy home and look up at the roof above your head you feel happy and content. In seeing someone else’s sadness, you have a new appreciation for what you have. Feeling sad is a normal emotion just like happiness, contentment and excitement. You may not believe it is a positive emotion but it definitely leads to positive emotions and leads us to recognize what truly makes us happy.