There is a theory out there that our brains are hard wired with a negativity bias as a survival technique from ancient times. In a scientific paper, ‘Bad Is Stronger Than Good’, Roy Baumeister postulates that the “brain is bad at learning from good experiences but good at learning from bad ones.” i.e. “our brain is like Velcro for the bad but Teflon for the good.”
To counteract this tendency, a Dr. Rick Hanson developed the “Taking in the Good Course” designed to teach how to take what would otherwise be a passing positive experience into a lasting inner strength. The course teaches a four step HEAL process: Have a positive experience, Enrich it, Absorb it, and (optional) Link the positive experience to negative material in order to soothe and even replace it (akin to Tony Robbins’ “Swish” technique).
The essence of the technique is training ourselves to NOTICE good things when the happen, then to fully take them in by relaxing for a moment, thoroughly savoring them, deeply appreciating them; implanting them in your memory banks.
Closing Quotes:
“Gratitude, like faith, is a muscle. The more you use it, the stronger it grows.” – Alan Cohen
“Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.” – Lionel Leo Hampton, 1908-2002, jazz musician
“Much as your body is built from the foods you eat, your mind is built from the experiences you have… Repeated feelings of gratitude make a person more grateful” – Dr. Rick Hanson
As always, I share what I most want and need to learn. – Nathan S. Collier