Rewiring Your Brain For Happiness
“Don’t believe everything you think.” That is the single most transformative statement anyone has ever said to me. It sounds simple enough, but that phrase hit me to my core because at the time that I heard it, I was struggling with some pretty intense anxiety for the very first time in my life. In the months to follow I started to research more of how our brains work and how our thoughts interact with our actions. I was curious to find out the extent to which positive thinking and optimism can impact our brain wiring and determine our ultimate happiness in life. The studies I found were staggering and eye opening. And proved to me, that the way we respond to our thoughts directly impacts our quality of life. Research has found that only “ten percent of happiness is determined by the external world. Forty percent is determined by our thoughts and actions. And fifty percent is determined by our genetics.” Which means that every single one of us, no matter our genetic pattern, play a huge role in determining the quality of our own life and our own happiness, simply by how we interact with our thoughts. Each of us individually are essentially the builders of our own brain chemistry.
Ten percent of happiness is determined by the external world, forty percent is determined by our thoughts and actions, and fifty percent is determined by genetics.
What the research has found is that you can literally train your brain to self regulate negative thinking. Our minds are made up of what scientists call neural pathways. These pathways are built off of habits we form. So when a thought, whether negative or positive, enters our brain, our response to that thought ultimately determines what our brain will do with it. So for instance, if we’re driving in traffic and someone cuts us off, and we respond in frustration and rage, that response fires a neuron that is essentially the beginning of a pathway through our brain. That path initially could be likened to a narrow trail through the woods, but every time we react in that same manner, neurons fire, and neural connections form, until eventually we’ve built a virtual full on eight lane freeway through our brain. Which makes it easier to respond in that same way time and time again. Scientists have a term for this called, “use-dependent cortical reorganization” which essentially means, we strengthen whichever neural pathways we use most often.
This can happen with any emotion whether it be anxiety, happiness, sadness, fear, etc. In fact, studies show that optimism can literally change the structure of your brain, just as much as anxiety or any negative feeling can. Your orbitofrontal cortex is a brain region located in the prefrontal cortex just behind your eyes, which has long been known to play a role in anxiety disorders and emotion regulation. According to this study from the University of Illinois, “the size of someone’s OFC appears to predict his or her susceptibility to anxiety or propensity for optimism.” But furthermore, the study found that “optimism played a mediating role in reducing anxiety in people with larger OFC’s.” The findings suggest that “if you can train yourself to respond more positively to stressful events and stay optimistic on a moment-to-moment basis, over time these explanatory styles will become embedded into you brain structure.”
Studies show that optimism can literally change the structure of your brain.
What this proves to us, is that our thought life plays a bigger role in predicting the quality of our life, than we may have previously thought. I think often it’s easy, as humans, to turn outward, and look for something external of us to blame for our own happiness or lack there of. I know in my own recent battle with anxiety, my initial reaction was to blame my genetics and all of the change/transition in my life in this season, but the truth is that that is only half of the story and is only partially to blame. The determining factor in whether I let it rule and take over my life, is me! Because of my genetics, I might have to fight harder for anxiety free brain chemistry. But that doesn’t mean it’s not possible. And that is true for all of us. We just have to ask ourselves… Are we ready and willing to do the hard work to push past our circumstances, to take every thought captive, to trust God ruthlessly, and to make a conscious effort on a day to day basis to turn our negative thoughts into positive ones? I know in my own life, since I have started to transform my thinking, face my fears, and push past the negative thoughts, I have seen an unbelievable improvement in my level of anxiety on a day to day basis, as well as in my overall joy for life.
Please hear me here. I understand that there are people who struggle with anxiety, depression, and mental illness to such an extent that they need medication. I am not saying that is a negative thing. I think medication can be incredibly helpful and life changing! All I am advocating for here is to challenge us all on a daily basis, to not let our thoughts take control of our lives. But instead to let our lives take control of our thoughts. To not let them have the final say, but instead to let God have the final say about what is true about us. This is true not just for those of you who struggle with anxiety, depression, etc, but also for those of you who struggle with self-worth, insecurity, negative self-talk, etc.
Our thoughts and how we respond to them, ultimately form our character and how we interact with the world. They determine how far we will go in the world mentally, spiritually, and physically. They determine ultimately where we will end up in this life. They are the fuel for every action we take, every word we speak, and every decision we make. We can literally chose to create neural pathways that lead us to gratitude, joy, and compassion. Or we can chose neural pathways that lead us to fear, hate, and anxiety. My prayer is that you chose the former. The decision is ours, but it will take a lot of work and a lot of conscious effort. Our brain is powerful. My friend, please…Don’t believe everything you think.
