Emotional Baggage - Can you Tame the Brain?

"Life becomes easier when you learn to accept an apology you never got." - Robert Breault.

Life will not always be the way we plan it to be. Or perhaps, in few cases it is seldom the way it is planned to be. The only difference lies in the way our brains are programmed towards the acceptance of reality vs imagination. Few of us have a higher threshold limit whereas others may have very low threshold levels. The human brain can be absolutely tamed.

There was a research carried out by researchers of the University of Queensland in Australia and University of California at Berkeley in the year 2005 on the power of the human mind and how it could be reprogrammed. The study was conducted on 76 Tibetan Buddhist Monks in India who had mediated for thousands of hours and had been successful in altering the structure and function of their brains. This results to increased neuroplasticity. The advantages of the increased neuroplasticity is tremendous. It leads to unusually large propensity for happiness and reduced tendency towards negativity.

My husband has this extreme fascination for the himalayas and the Tibetan monks and their lifestyle. That keeps taking him every year on a ride to the himalayas and why not! The peace, tranquility and simplicity that the lives of the monks exemplify is truly captivating.

I am sure a lot of us would want that degree of peace in our lives. But it comes at the cost of self-discipline. Disciplining our mind to stay in the present. Let go off the past, let go off hurt, relationships, people, their actions or their words that caused us pain and be in a state of bliss.

How many of us really do that? We hold on to grudges over years together.We may never ever meet that person again, but their words still keep dancing in our heads. The more we think of them, the more fuel we add to the fire of hurt that was caused long back. It is sometimes best to forgive - forget and move on, not for anyone else, but our own sake.

If the memories of the past still have the power to stir fear in your heart,
Or
If the happenings of yester years still manage to encapsulate your heart with love and nostalgia,
Or
If you compare your present with the past, even if to epitomize your happiness today.

You are still stuck there, You still carry an emotional baggage that needs to be unpacked. Your yardstick for the measurement of your contentment should not be experiences from the past. Yes, experiences shape us into more informed and better prepared individuals. But, it is unjustified to compare two different phases or situations in life that can never meet.

If the past brings neither sorrow, nor happiness, neither trepidation nor yearning, it is then that you are truly living in the present. It is only through acceptance of one's life and its many events - good or bad does a human being become truly satisfied. When life's occurrences lose the power to alter the state of your mind, is when you have actually gotten over it.

And it is best to get rid off the past, so that the present can be written on a fresh slate waiting to be explored and enjoyed. We live only once. It is best to go with the flow and enjoy each day, as it comes.

Meditate, Exercise, Join a hobby class, do things that will help you understand yourself better. After all, the duty we owe ourselves is greater than that we owe to anyone else.

If you are looking for someone who can change your life, look no further, you had that person since birth - That person is 'You'.


With Love,
Megha S