Stinkin' Thinkin'

I opened my computer the other day and clicked the big blue "e" to get online. On my home computer, my home page is set to yahoo (why, I do not know, as I rarely use yahoo anymore, but I guess old habits are hard to break). Anyhoo (that was for you Tracey), in the YAHOO News section, a title caught my eye. It said something along the lines of "Changing Your Negative Thoughts and Changing Your Life." I don't remember the exact title, but it was something like that.

So, I open the story, which I almost never do, because they usually end up being something stupid and I lament that I can never get those 2 minutes of life back . . . but THIS TIME, I was glad I read the article. The writer suggests that our brains are hardwired to remember negative situations, because that allows us to survive. I sort of believe this. He suggests that as we collect and store new information (accommodation and assimilation for you scientists out there) our brain creates "neural pathways" or "ruts" in layman's terms. If our thoughts tend to be more negative than positive over time, then we create pathways to a certain area of our brain that creates a chemical that increases the likelihood that we will be negative again, or that we will have negative thinking again. It's sort of like we train our brain.

The author was quick to differentiate between negative thinking and critical thinking. He says critical thinking is when you look at a problem and recognize that it is a problem but quickly try to determine how the problem can best be solved. Negative thinking is recognizing a problem and saying, "That's never going to get better, so why am I bothering?" Do you see the difference?

I was seriously fascinated by the thought that I can create a new "rut" in my brain by making myself think positively. When I think positively, the pathway that thought takes causes my brain to create a chemical that makes me feel euphoria (extreme happiness). It's called serotonin.

So what about all those old ruts in your brain? That's the cool thing about your brain. You really can teach an old dog new tricks. Every time you have a negative thought, stop your thinking, say, "Nope, that is a negative thought" and think a positive one. It's like learning to do a cartwheel. At first, it feels funky. But pretty soon, you're a pro because your brain remembers how to do it, anticipates the movement, and sends neurological signals to actually PRECEED the movement. How cool is that? Once you have trained your brain to think positively, your brain will actually send out neurological signals in advance that will anticipate your positive reaction and release serotonin. I'll bet this is what Paul was talking about when he said to the Corinthians to take every thought captive "fitting every loose thought, impulse and emotion, into a life structured by the love of Christ."

All that to say, I know I'm a geek sometimes. But I love that about myself. (See how positive that was?!)