Sunday, October 14, 2007

Wired for fear? Or Mind Over Matter?

Reuters announced the results of a new study today. In Fearful looks get brain's attention fast: study, we learn that researchers have discovered the brain is wired to process fear faster than happiness or any of the related emotions, like love.

The study, which appears in the journal Emotion, also
reveals how little interest the brain has in smiling faces.
[bold is mine]

I don't intend to argue with the scientific research here. If we are faced with a real, physical threat, this hard-wiring of our brains (researchers say it is brain's amygdala that takes in these messages from the visual cortex and serves as the "alarm center") is critical to our survival.

But what if we always find what we are looking for? A couple of common sayings come to mind..."You'll see it when you believe it" or "when all you have is a hammer, everything you see looks like a nail."

If I'm wired to look for the fearful threats, I will find them in abundance. I will also NOT notice all the happy things, the love, and the joy in my life.

Few of us live in an environment where we need to be able to spot trouble (like a hungry tiger) and flea for our lives at a moment's notice. Yet many of us live like we're under constant threat. We see the enemy/threat to our happiness everywhere....in our government, in our environment, in a people who believe a different way or worship a different way, in our jobs, in our co-workers, in our families, in our spouses, in our own bodies, in our minds.

Biological Inevitability? Or Mind Over Matter?

What is the source of our "wiring" and our predisposition to seeing threats? While we might say the brain, I would argue that the contents of our subconscious holds many beliefs that influence how -- and what -- we see.

Other interesting studies have shown that the brain works in the very same way whether it is seeing something for real -- like a flower, for instance -- or it is imagining a flower it has seen before. Yes, it works the very same way whether the vision is real or imagined.

We can raise our blood pressure by having a stressful thought. We can make our mouths water by imagining delicious foods. We can cause a sick feeling in our stomach by imagining ourselves in a threatening situation -- like public speaking, for instance. We know, then, that our thoughts have effects in our lives.

If I have a strong subconscious belief that the world is dangerous, I will tend to feed that fear by noticing all the things about life that prove this belief. My thoughts are like a lense through which I experience the world. Colored with my fear, my world will appear fearful. Taken to the extreme, we end up paranoid or we develop phobias.

Many of these subconscious beliefs are first formed when we are very small. We don't know we harbor these beliefs, because they exist out of the realm of our conscious awareness. Underneath the surface they may be, yet they must still be expressed somehow....through compulsive thoughts or behaviors, negative emotions, even sickness and disease.

The good news

The mind can be re-programmed to see love, joy, and happiness. If we want to experience more of these positive emotions and events -- and less fear, anger, frustration, envy, and lack -- then we should seek change from the inside out. We don't need to find a perfect world to live in; we need to release the fearful thoughts and replace them with loving ones.

We can start right now by taking time daily (or hourly!) to relax and then repeat these affirmations to ourselves:

"I love and accept myself"

"I forgive my past mistakes -- and the past mistakes of others. I know my "enemies" were just fearful, too. I choose to stop the chain of fear now by choosing forgiveness and love for myself and all others."

"From this this moment on, I send only Love."

"All is well."