Our attention is like the beam of a flashlight wandering in a dark room. We perceive what our attention is focused on and suck it into our brain like a vacuum cleaner. It doesn't matter what it is. Via attention, we control our perception and via perception, we control the input into our IPO. These inputs are processed in the IPO and change the structure of our neural network. We see the result as traces in our brain. This not only creates new synapses, new connections in our brain. The mode of action of our genes is also influenced by gene expression. The output, the result, of each process depends on its input values. Through our perception, we control our condition and our actions in our environment. If we increase our input quality, we can begin to improve our quality of life.
Usually, our attention wanders automatically and we have little influence on the input information. Our attention is largely controlled by the outside world. Constantly it flashes and beeps somewhere and screams for our attention. But physical pain and serious worries also take their toll. Nature has programmed our brain in such a way that we perceive negative signals easier and faster than positive ones. In order for our ancestors to survive and reproduce, it was important to recognize dangers quickly and to react to them. Pessimists, who saw problems and dangers everywhere, usually had a higher survival rate than optimists who trusted in their luck. Even though we mostly live in a safe environment and rarely get into situations where we have to fear for our lives, our brain is still structured in such a way that we react more strongly to unpleasant events than to positive ones. Negative, i.e. unpleasant, events shape us much more than positive, than pleasant events, even if we have predominantly positive experiences. It takes many positive experiences to balance a negative one. This effect is also called negative distortion. In the course of time, we become more and more receptive to negative messages and get into a vortex that pulls us into permanent fear and dissatisfaction. With all the negative consequences to our psyche and our body. To escape this vicious circle, we must begin to consciously direct our attention and focus it more on positive experiences. This will also gradually restructure our brain. It will bring our reality, our mind, and body, in a positive direction. The remedy that can help us with this is called concentration.
In psychology, concentration is understood as the deliberate focusing of attention on a section of our external world. Concentration is controlled attention. Through concentration, we can control our attention and thus the input values into our IPO. In this way, we can influence our state, our neuronal structures, positively or negatively. This has nothing to do with so-called positive thinking. We can try, but it won't work. It's just a placebo. It also does not mean that we should ignore negative experiences. They're here, they're not going anywhere. But we can just accept them as they are and not pay as much attention to them anymore.
Our first step, our first exercise, consists of consciously directing our attention to the good, the beautiful, the pleasant. We will see that there are many more of them than we have been aware of so far. In time, we will learn to absorb positive experiences not only from the outside, but to create them for ourselves from within. It doesn't happen overnight, but if we work at it consistently, our lives will gradually change in a positive, happier and more satisfying direction.
No comments:
Post a Comment