Staying with a negative experience past the point that’s useful is like…

What kind of track are you running? Be mindful when creating your track.

Since neurons that fire together wire together, staying with a negative experience past the point that’s useful is like running laps in Hell: You dig the track a little deeper in our brain each time you go around it. One the other hand, positive experiences always have gain and rarely have pain. They usually feel good in the moment. Additionally, the most direct way to grow inner strengths such as determination, a sense of perspective, positive emotions, and compassion is to have experiences of them in the first place. If you want to develop more gratitude, keep resting your mind on feeling thankful. If you want to feel more loved, look for and stay with experiences in which you feel included, seen, appreciated, liked, or cherished. The answer to the question of how to grow good things inside your mind is this: Take in experiences of them. This will weave them into your brain, building up their neural circuits, so you can take them with you wherever you go.

-Rick Hanson, Ph.D., an excerpt from Hardwiring Happiness

Image source: 2009tonton.blogspot.com

This post was written by Kristin Barton Cuthriell, MEd, MSW, LCSW. Kristin is a licensed clinical social worker and the author of The Snowball Effect: How to Build Positive Momentum in Your Life.  If you would like to read more, you can go to my website here at www.thesnowballeffect.com and sign up for a free chunk along with weekly positive momentum tools, or you can check it out on Amazon. It is available in soft cover and kindle edition. Kindle Edition is now only $3.03. Be sure to read the Amazon reviews.