I have always found myself yearning for more…more money, more success, more sales, more ______ (fill in the blank).
I proudly considered this constant yearning a healthy sign of a robust ambition. Until I began studying neuroscience and realized how truly unhealthy this kind of thinking actually is.
Here’s why. We literally sculpt our brain by what we dwell on. The more we think a thought or feel an emotion, the stronger that neuropathway becomes in our brain.
By constantly hungering for more, I was inadvertently telling my brain “I don’t have enough.”
The more I repeated that thought, the stronger the “not enough” neuropathway grew, until I’d unconsciously do things that kept reinforcing my experience of ‘not enough.’
Slowly it dawned on me. How can I expect more, if I was repeatedly focused on what I had not yet attained? Clearly, I needed to shift my focus to rewire my brain.
So, I decided to experiment. Every time I felt myself coveting anything, I stopped, took note and shifted into appreciation for what I currently had.
More money? I took a peek at my bank account and gave thanks for the amount presently there. More success? I gratefully reviewed what I’d achieved up to now. The moment the thought creeps in, ‘but it’s not where I want to be…” I stop and refocus on how far I’ve come.
I invite you to join me. What if you shifted to gratitude for what you already have, rather than gazing into the future, longing for more?
I’m not asking you to give up your desires. But I am suggesting that you view your desires through the appreciative lens of how they’ve been at least partially fulfilled.
Then watch what happens. If your experience is like mine, you’re in for a few miracles!
Have you experienced the miracle of gratitude in your life? Tell me about it in the comments below.
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