Mixed and Conflicting Emotions
Understand that people can experience mixed or conflicting emotions at the same time — feeling excited and nervous about starting a new school, or happy for a friend who won but disappointed for yourself
What a learner can do afterwards
- Describe a personal situation where they felt two emotions simultaneously
- Explain why mixed feelings are normal and not something to worry about
- Identify mixed emotions in a character from a book or film
The lesson
Most of the time you feel one emotion. But sometimes two emotions show up together, and both are true at the same time.
Zoe is starting a new school next week. She is excited to meet new people. She is also nervous about finding her classroom. Both feelings are real, and both are happening right now.
This is called having mixed feelings. It happens when a situation has more than one part to it, so more than one feeling makes sense.
In a movie, a boy waves goodbye as his best friend moves to a new city. He smiles because he is glad they got to be friends. He also feels sad because he will miss her. Happy and sad, both at once.
Mixed feelings are not a problem to fix. You do not have to pick just one. You can say, "I feel happy and disappointed at the same time," and that is the honest answer.
You can feel two emotions at the same time, and that is normal.
Watch it
Where it sits
Where this leads
Jobs that lean on this skill. Follow one to see everything it is built on.
8 questions wait behind this lesson, each with its answer explained. Every answer feeds the sky: stars light as they are learned, and dim when it is time to come back.