My mind is like a bad neighborhood.  I try not to go there alone” – Anne Lamott or “The primary cause of unhappiness is hardly ever the situation, but your thoughts about it” – Eckhart Tolle

In this section I will create a couple of sentences that talk about the science of the mind and its impact on our health and happiness.

FOOD FOR THOUGHT FOR ME:

Talk about thoughts as the language of the brain, electrical charge, meaning-making, assigning thoughts to our circumstances, old programming and rewiring, the science of the brain and relation to forming habits and conditioned behaviors, perspective, truth, reality, belief systems and paradigms, law of attraction, intention

Our brains are supercomputers, wired for protection, to keep us safe, distinguish between right and wrong, avoid pain and seek pleasure. But what happens when in it performing its functions, we outgrow the need for some of its programming and it limits our capabilities and functionality? IN todays world, we go through new versions on our phones and computers every year. The old programming becomes obsolete when we find new and better ways to do the same things - sharper camera lens, sleeker design, more bells and whistles. Its not that the old versions were bad, in fact it required those versions for ideas on new versions to bloom. However, the old versions may no longer serve us to the full capacity that is available as technology evolves. Our brains are our technology, they are not who we are. They enhance, draw out and develop who we are when working in full capacity and if you aren’t taking inventory and making upgrades from time to time, you may notice that your brain function fails you and holds you back from what you see possible for yourself. Its important to know how to manage your mind and know what programs are running, so that they do not limit your potential. our brains run on programming that we buy into from an early age and ongoing through our experiences, our upbringing, family, mentors, friends, etc. Some of the programming we took on helped us to cope under stressful circumstances, or feel safe when scared, or have resillence through rejection, or even to have fun or push on when life gets hard. BUt when everyday situations don’t necessitate our brains armoring up to that degree, it does not know the difference between discomfort and a life threat. Pain is pain and pleasure is pleasure, and it does not give attention to the magnitude.

What is a belief? A belief is a thought that we decide to be truth. After several thoughts bind together, we form a universal belief about it. When we adopt a belief, our brains quickly go to work to find everything to justify its truth in every situation, and ironically thats ultimately what shows up for us to validate its need to remain. At what point do you check in with your belief systems to see whether they are still the thoughts you want to live by or if having these beliefs serve for or against your ultimate goal. Our beliefs are the worker bees for the results we want to create. In what ways are your beliefs that you are clinging to out of alignment with what you REALLY want?