It is our ability to accept and acknowledge and manage our emotions, without becoming overwhelmed, that is linked to resilience.

Dr David suggests that being able to manage emotions with agility is possibly one of the most important skills we can learn. It has benefits for ourselves, our families and our workplaces.

One of the consequences of the cultural push for 100 per cent positivity (which is different to optimism), is a tendency when someone shares what they are feeling, to move them in to a solution to make them feel better without taking the time to acknowledge and empathise with how they feel.

It can feel like being kind and trying to help, but it's worthwhile slowing this down to see what's going on. Our ability to manage our feelings affects how we manage and respond to emotions in others.

If someone's sadness or anger and discomfort raises some of that in us, and this makes us feel uncomfortable, and we don't know how to sit with that feeling, we jump too quickly into wanting the other person not to feel.

It might feel like empathy, but misses the step of acknowledging their experience and their emotions.

When someone is upset, simply noticing and managing your emotions, and also sitting with someone where they are, can be more important than moving straight into solutions.

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