The power behind choosing

I came across a blog post recently (by one of my favorite bloggers Elise) where she shared a quote from a book she was reading. It resonated with her because of her previous One Little Word “choose” and how it effected her last year and continues to.

This is the quote:

"Through a phenomenon known as nueroplasticity, when you use awareness to interrupt unhelpful mental patterns you are actually creating new neural pathways in your brain. As the saying goes, "Neurons that fire together wire together." If your neurons are frequently firing together in unhelpful repetitive patterns, such as being angry or frustrated, you get really good at anger and frustration. However, you can actually create new and more positive neural pathways by choosing to pay attention to something else. As you practice you come to feel different - steadier, more resilient, and less reactive to life's inevitable ups and downs - because you are different. You have used your mind to change your brain."

And I read it and thought: “YES!” This is exactly what I try to do in my life and in my attitude, and here science is showing me why that is so helpful and positive and motivating. By choosing how we react to things we are morphing our neural pathways and in effect, our life. We are molding our brains to think differently about things in the moment and things to come. I just love it!

When you get stuck in one of those unhelpful negative repetitive patters it can be hard to break free. It can be hard to choose to see things in a different light. I know this, and I know that I still have a long way to go. But I can see a difference in myself and how I approach things even in the last year. When I made the change here on the blog to focus on “celebrating the everyday” it altered how I looked at life and how I lived. I found more gratitude and contentment and eagerness.

And now I know why… I “used my mind to change my brain.”

So awesome! And empowering.

What reaction are you going to choose today? How will it change your life?

“Blog Every Day in May” challenge. Day 26: Something you read online. Leave a link and discuss.