Train Your Brain to Look for What’s Right

There are a gazillion things flying at your brain every moment. You can’t possibly take in and manage it all, so your brain sets up a filtering system based on your preferences and beliefs.

This area is called the reticular activating system (RAS). When you go to a buffet, you don’t eat all the food on display. You choose what you like and leave the rest. That’s what the RAS does for filtering and sorting the gazillion things flying at your brain.

The RAS is like a guard at the door to your brain. It chooses what gets in, based on your settings. The settings are created based on emotion. When you are super excited about something, your brain interprets this as important and sets a filter to look for it again. When you are super worried or scared about something, your brain interprets it as important and sets a filter to look for it again too. 

You see what you believe. This is called confirmation bias. It means your brain is looking for things you have filtered for. You may have heard the saying, “I’ll believe it when I see it.” But what’s really happening is that you are seeing it because you believe it. 

Repetitive and negative thoughts are kind of like your brain’s filtering program to keep you safe. It’s looking for what’s wrong so you can stay away from it. The good news is, you can also program it to look for what’s right. When you teach your brain to look for what’s right, you’ll experience more of that. You’re creating your own reality. 

Let’s test this out. Let’s set a filter for blue butterflies. You probably don’t feel any strong emotion about them either way so it’s a good subject for practice. Think about blue butterflies and generate some positive feelings for them. I like to call it “game show feelings”. Like, when a contestant on a game show is jumping up and down, squealing with delight and clapping their hands while a big colorful wheel spins before it lands on the prize. Notice the feeling in your body. Yay! Blue butterflies! Now, your brain has interpreted all this as something important. You have thoughts and emotions around blue butterflies, so your brain sets a filter for it. NOW, in the next 48 hours, you will very likely see a blue butterfly. It could be an actual butterfly, or it could be on a teacup, or someone’s T-shirt. It could be a decal in a window or an emoji in a text. Fun, right? Start with easy stuff that you don’t have a strong desire or aversion for. Then, with practice, you can continue to set your brain’s filter in this way with things that matter more to you.

 

If you’re interested in learning more about brain mechanics and practices to support a healthy mind and mood, check out Anxious to Awesome: A Practical Guide for the Whole Family.