BRAIN REACTIONS: By Laurie Jackson 5/4/2010

BRAIN REACTIONS…. By Laurie Jackson 5/2/2010


There is so much they have found about the brain these days. I read a book entitled “Who Switched Off My Brain” by Dr. Caroline Leaf a couple of years ago. It was an amazing book and I highly recommend it. I ended up getting some videos at the library on the brain and got really into how the whole brain functions. It was fascinating, to me anyway. ☺

On my treadmill today I started thinking about the show “The Biggest Loser” and how hard they try and make positive changes. I think to myself, I’m glad I only need to lose 5 pounds here and there. That show motivates me to continue to workout and eat right. I would never want to have to lose that much weight.

But on the other hand, I’ve been making some very difficult changes about how I process my thoughts. Challenging myself to think more rational and truthful thoughts. Like our physical body, we can literally change and transform our brain. I used to think I had little control over my thoughts. I suppose, to some, that would be as irrational as hearing an obese person say to a thin person that they have no control over what they eat. What is hard for one person may be easy to another and vice versa. Of course there are so many reasons for this, I’m not even going to try to write about just what I personally know. Everyone reading this knows a little about why this would be so. “Only God can help us now” Can be a moment of truth for so many of us at certain times in our lives. His grace is sufficient and I do believe there are times when He understands that we don’t even know how to help ourselves and this is when He waves His power over our situation. Like any father, He also wants us learn to use wisely the brainpower He has given us.

I’ve also been watching the show “Ruby” on the style channel. Tonight there is a two-hour special, in case you are reading this and want to tune in. Apparently I have some readers “incognito.” ☺ Ruby is a show about a woman who used to weigh over 700 lbs and is now down to 300 something. Her story is a testimony of hope and the reality of changed thinking patterns.

So let me get back to the title of this blog. We can choose to make a positive thought choices and it will literally create certain chemical reactions and build positive neuro pathways in our brains, hence the title, “Brain Reactions.” Our thought choices make Physical reactions in our brain. A diet for our mind is just as, or more important as the diet we choose for our bodies. Of course we can’t separate these two. ☺ I think we would have to be beheaded or something. ☺ The same is true when we choose destructive thoughts. We all know what is positive and negative. I used to hate when someone told me to think positive. It’s like telling an obese person to just workout and eat right. Honestly, when your mind has been lazy, or on a wrong pattern for years, it looks like those people on the “Biggest Loser” show. It’s not easy, and you need to learn how to think positive and know basic problem solving skills and expose where you may be thinking destructively. We may even need a coach like Julian, God forbid. I’m just joking, Julian really helps so many people. I believe her mother is a psychologist. Julian seems to use some psycho - therapy when she is coaching.

Some of us were taught how to deal with problems in a destructive way opposed to a positive way. I researched this sight called “Uncommon Knowledge” it is an excellent resource to communicate basic problem solving skills, etc. They are actually teaching their program in many elementary schools all around the world. It seems so basic, how to eat right, how to think right. Yet we can get so off into la la land and we don’t even realize how destructive our thoughts are. We all have the propensity to think crazy at times.

I’ve mentioned two shows, let me mention a third and give away the fact that maybe I watch a lot of T.V. “The Super Nanny.” I watch this show sometimes and can barely believe the parents, let alone the demonic kids! But when you are taught how to think wrong you can easily be taught right. The super nanny does this in a few days. There is so much work involved at first. Like a rocket getting off the ground, it takes so much fuel to retrain your thinking but soon your up and away while using a lot less fuel.

Working out for me is so easy compared to some. Not because I’m better, but because I’ve done the mind work in that area for years. My friend is taking a calculus class. At this moment it would not be rational for me to take a calculus class. I would need so much prep work. So a good point to make here is that we should expect “work” when we begin to get serious about changing stuff in our lives. That is why people who go on any quick fix, wacky, wild diet plan or any kind of plan to change their life, end up not having lasting life change. The truth is that real change takes time and a lot of effort on our part.

I heard a counselor tell someone that they needed to learn to counsel him or herself. This is what it comes down to. We must use our own will to make our own changes in life. The other option is be lazy and never change. Even the good changes we’ve already made require continued maintenance. I am not over weight, but I most certainly could be if I chose to discontinue healthy habits. I’m often tempted to not do my workout and or eat like I did when I was 15 years old. ☺

To be lazy, in any area of your life is not fun. If we are honest, we love to work and be challenged. We were created to live and move and be stretched as human beings. We were created to work “it” out. So if you’re like me, you want changes in your life with little to no effort. This is the point of my blog. To encourage myself my readers and the readers that are “incognito” to be realistic about the “work” part. Remember one good decision leads to a “brain reaction” and then this usually leads to a positive domino effect. Good choices typically help us make more good choices etc. ☺

Keep on keep’n on. BTW when we smile and or laugh this creates motivating chemical “Brain reactions.” Take charge of your own thoughts and let your brain work for you and not against you. I’m thinking this is what God meant when He said He wants us to renew our minds.

He wants the best for his kids and I don’t think He is willing to wave His magic wand and watch our brains atrophy and wither away into nothingness. He wants us to find our brainpower and use it to choose life. His hope when He created our “Brain reactions” was so that they would work for us, not against us.

Let’s partner with our magnificently created brain and our amazing creator of it and choose life giving “brain reactions.”

Thanks for reading. When I started this blog I seriously had no idea that it would begin some amazing conversations with so many incredible people.
Thank you all for this, Laurie