Stay Plastic My Friends
Is he advocating the continued use of single-use plastics?
No, No, No, No, No… Hear me out. Please.
Did you know: People who rate in the upper reaches of happiness on psychological tests develop about 50% more antibodies than average in response to flu vaccines.
Did you know: A Dutch study of elderly patients showed that upbeat mental states reduced an individual’s risk of death by half over a nine-year period.
Did you know: Countless studies show that people who are asked to list the things for which they are grateful, report a sense of well-being that is nearly 3x that of people who are asked to list the things that cause them anguish.
To say that our sense of happiness, or more precisely well-being, has an impact on our quality of life…is an obvious and dramatic understatement.
For nearly 100 years, biologists, psychologists, neuroscientists and the like…have been studying negative emotion. They’ve been studying anger, aggression, anxiety and depression. But it’s only been the last 3 decades where science has begun to focus on the positive.
And I find the resultant information to be fascinating and irrefutable.
Dr. Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin is one of the preeminent scholars in this field, and he says that there are four ‘constituents’ of well-being that neuroscience has been able to study, measure and predict.
He cites these 4 constituents as traits that can be measured in certain brain centers, and proven to be PLASTIC.
Now…what do I mean by plastic?
I’m talking about the concept of neuro-plasticity. In simple terms, the ability of our brains to rewire themselves.
Dr. Davidson cites the four constituents of well-being as:
1. Resilience – the capacity to recover from adversity.
2. Optimism & Outlook – the ability to see the good in the world.
3. Mindfulness & Attention – a wandering mind is an unhappy mind.
4. Generosity – being kind to others activates the circuits in our brain which sustain positive emotion. (And they do it in a way that produce change that can last more than any other phenomena that neuroscience has studied.)
In other words, the acts (and practice) of being resilient, of being optimistic, of being mindful and of being generous…can quite literally rewire our brain circuitry to put us in a more consistent state of well-being.
Did you hear that? Do you need to read it again?
We can actually reshape our minds. We can, through a pro-active and mindful practice, create stronger neural pathways that allow for the flow of positive brain chemistry.
And we’re not just talking about psychological well-being, we’re talking about physical well-being too.
Imagine having the power to train our brain to function at a higher level of happiness and well-being. Imagine having the power to train our brain to produce more anti-bodies and keep us more resistant to illness.
Well you don’t have to imagine that power. You have it, right…now.
This morning my son left me a voicemail, and at the end of it he said, “I hope you have a great day Dad.”
Now that may seem like a simple statement that should only be interpreted as kindness/thoughtfulness. But when you think about it…where did he get this? He’s 8.
Without pondering the possibilities, I’ll just tell you where he got it. He got it from a ritual we started some time ago.
As part of our drive to school…I literally force my sons to repeat certain phrases (sometimes it ain’t easy). First of which is “Today is going to be a great day.”
You know what? This message is starting to sink in. His brain is creating neural connections. It is strengthening the circuits of positive thought.
And where can that lead? To places of unsurpassed personal power and well-being.
Too dramatic? Hell NO.
Conscientious positivity, generosity, gratitude…the discussion and practice of resilience and honesty and leadership. These things WILL shape their minds. These things WILL create broader neural pathways that allow the chemicals of well-being to flow. These things WILL empower their bodies to better fight illness.
My God, just the notion of empowering my sons with their own, intrinsic ability to shape the strengthen their mind…shapes and strengthens my own.
But alas my friends, this article must come to an end. Because just like our own personal power, this topic is limitless.
Because this not only has consequences on ourselves…but to all those around us. All those we influence. All those we impact. Whether through parenthood, job interaction or just being a member of the community.
I hope you have a great day today. And every day.
Because you have the ultimate power to shape that day.
Stay plastic my friends.
