Plastic Nerves What??
Probably not the best title to close out 2020 but hear me out. I REALLY wanted to come up with something brilliant for Thanksgiving. You know, something thankful, something inspiring, and something hopeful. However, after a few weeks of scribbling, deleting, cutting, and pasting, I basically had nothing. Was I that unthankful? Was negativity just settling into every fiber of my being? Well, I couldn’t have that, so I did what any sensible human would do, I quit thinking about it. Ok, that was a joke! We humans know how we are! We tend to focus on the negative over and over and over again. We can’t seem to put it away ever or change our thought. We are constantly inundated with how easy it is to be positive through outlets like FakeBook, er sorry, FaceBook. Everyone’s doing better than we are! Literally everyone! How can that be? As my daughters say, “mom, it’s all fake.” Ahhhh such wise words from such young minds, but what could they possibly know? Those ungrateful millennials! They know nothing right? Well, they do, and that’s for another post ha!
After scrapping my November post multiple times until abandoning it altogether, I started to think about another concept: neuroplasticity. If you think it sounds like plastic nerves, you’re not far off the mark. So, what is it? It’s the brain’s ability to adapt and modify to changes in our environment and to develop new pathways or connections over time. I read scientists used to think that these adaptations were basically done by age 25, up until about 10 years ago (thank goodness) that is. I’ve been an observer of this phenomenon by watching 2 people in my family: 1 from spinal cord injury (SCI) and 1 from traumatic brain injury (TBI). The miraculous process of the brain finding a new pathway to navigate these injuries is astonishing. It literally finds a way to make the body continue despite the obstacle. So, this “got me thinking” (danger danger Will Robinson) about negativity and neuroplasticity. Can we develop new pathways with habits and behaviors? I think so.
For one of my yoga trainings, we had to watch The Secret. While watching it, I realized that I read this book many years ago. At that time, I thought this was a bunch of hooey. Think about how you want your life to be, and it will come to you? Bogus. I am not on this train yet, but I do think that focusing on what’s going well instead of what’s going wrong, can change your life. Humans tend to focus on what’s going wrong, what’s not good enough, what’s failing, or what’s falling short. There are times when we do not have a choice but to focus on a problem to find a solution. However, we waste A LOT of time focusing on what is wrong daily. And even more devastating, we focus on what’s wrong with ourselves: I need to lose weight, I need to walk more, I need to work out more, I don’t measure up, I’m not good enough, and on and on and on. There is literally nothing about these thoughts that are helpful or productive. I cannot think of one benefit honestly. So, can we change that negative thought? Develop a new pathway? Again, I am sure of it.
This leads us to this year. 2020 will be studied, talked about, and analyzed for years to come. If this year has taught us anything, it is that negativity is everywhere. In this case, it’s well-founded. It is hard to find something good in this year. It really is. Many of us have lost friends, family and loved ones during this year. Many of us have lost our jobs, our businesses, our homes, and experienced financial loss beyond measure. Many of us have lost relationships and marriages. Many of us have developed worsening physical ailments. And most of us have lost our minds more times than we can count. In a world that seems to be falling apart, where do we find the good? I’m no expert by any means but seeing people I love face a life-altering event, I learned one thing: focus on what’s going right at the moment. It may be extremely difficult, but we have to find that one thing that’s going right each day to move on. We can’t change what happened yesterday, and we can’t predict the future, but the one thought we have control over is happening right now. The present is here waiting for us, and there is something very liberating about living in the now. Examples: I may not be at the weight I want to be, but I have been mindful about putting healthy food into my body lately, and it’s paying off. I may not be as fit as I want to be, but I’m taking the dogs on a walk more days than not. I may not be a full-blown yogi, but I am seeing the benefit of meditation and using it more and more. I didn’t drink enough water yesterday, but a year ago I wasn’t even thinking about drinking water. I’m not teaching in the way I love, but I’m still thinking up new dance ideas and choreography after 30+ years. I may not have the level of education I always thought I would, but I completed my 200-Hour RYT this year, and that’s something I would have never thought I could do. Maybe my daughter isn’t what she used to be physically, but she’s kicking ass on a daily basis nonetheless (without complaining or whining or feeling sorry for herself. Go figure.). New pathways. If you tell something to yourself enough, maybe you will start to believe it. Then, the next thing you know, it is creeping up into your daily routine, little by little. There is something to turning a negative into a positive, however trite that sounds. There is nothing easy about it or everyone would be positive all the time, just like FakeBook says. And some days, the only positive thought we can come up with is, I am still here. The power of thought, the power of telling yourself every day, “Good job buddy! You can do it!” And, over time, that new pathway starts to develop. Instead of immediately going to that what’s-going-wrong track, your train veers more to the what’s-going-right track. Slowly, that pathway gets stronger. Your brain begins to adjust, to modify, to develop those new pathways. It is a lot of work. It is not easy. Although it can be done.
As 2020 draws to a close, do not forget to be kind to yourself. Find something right happening each day. Over time, maybe you’ll start to find two things, or three. You’ll always have the standard “I’m still here” for those days when nothing is going right. Or maybe it is something so simple like “Hey, I really ate healthy today or I slept great last night.” Change the neural plasticity. Create a new pathway. Make it your resolution if you like. See if this time next year, things are different. Write it down in a journal if that helps. Whatever the method to keep you on the right track, try it out. Stick with it. It can’t hurt. Plus, you want to be ready when things turn around. Because they will. Focus on what’s good, what’s right, what’s positive about the present. It does not mean you can’t grieve loss, concentrate on problems that you need to solve (ummm….that’s a whole other post too), or give yourself some slack. It means that at some point, if we want to move on, if we want to evolve into a better human, if we want to be happy, we have to focus on the good in the now. A place where we are present to recognize it, not predict it or worry about what has been. Develop a new pathway like your life depends on it. Because it kinda does.
The light in me honors the light in all of you. May 2021 bring us all a brighter light, a sense of renewal, an inner strength we didn’t know we had, and a new pathway to happiness.