Changing Mental Perceptions
Be neither a pessimist nor an optimist. Extreme pessimism
is a catastrophe magnified, but extreme optimism is reality denied. Neither is
good for mental health. Given the same situation, a pessimist may give up while
an optimist may strive to change the situation. A healthy dose of optimism can
be uplifting and hopeful, while a healthy dose of pessimism can be realistic
and wise. Achieving a balance of being realistic and hopeful is a challenge,
but essential to positive mental health.
Remember this maxim: Your life experiences remain the
same; but your perception and response to those experiences will make a
difference in your life.
Accordingly, your mental perception plays a decisive role
in your mental health. Fortunately, optimism can be learned, and pessimism can
be unlearned.
Ways to become more optimistic
The first step to optimism is to identify the thoughts and
beliefs running through the back of your mind after something unpleasant has
happened.
Interpret repeatedly your beliefs and feelings.
Challenge, if necessary, your beliefs, not your feelings,
because what you feel is what you feel and it is real to you; but your beliefs
may change under the scrutiny of logic and perspective.
If you are paranoid about something, your fear is genuine;
but challenging and rationalizing it with common sense and logic may change
your feelings. If you act despite your feelings, your beliefs and emotions will
follow right behind.
Next, record all your feelings about several events and
your different responses to them. Do this for a few unpleasant situations,
which may or may not be similar. You may then begin to see a repeated pattern
in how you interpret and react to those events, and that will help you become
aware of and, ultimately, change that unwanted pattern.
If pessimistic thoughts, such as “I will never be able to
do it”, pop up in your mind, tell yourself that a pessimistic way of thinking
is present for you. Once your thoughts begin to change, you may feel better,
contributing to rejuvenated mental health.
The next step is to distract yourself from your
pessimistic beliefs or dispute them.
Disputing pessimistic beliefs will bring deeper and longer
lasting results than distracting will, but distraction can also be as effective
and may sometimes be easier on you.
If you want to get away from a problem, you should not
focus on it. Too much thinking and analyzing may make any problem seem worse
than it actually is. Instead, focus your attention on something else, such as
the possible solutions to the problem.
Disputing pessimistic beliefs involves replacing them with
more logical and realistic explanations.
Step back and re-evaluate the situation, and your thoughts
may come into focus, becoming more positive, and you may even be able to work
things out faster. On the other hand, if you painstakingly ruminate and relive
your experiences, repeatedly analyzing them, and getting in touch with your
feelings about them, you will only reinforce those unhappy feelings; analysis
creates paralysis.
If you are mentally healthy, you are forever caught up in
the present moment, never thinking about the past or the future - both of which
you have no control. Today is a wonderful day - live it in the present, and
live it to the fullest! You will be surprised how this positive attitude can
restore your mental health.
The mind and the will
Distinguish between your mind and your will. Your mind, a
thought-producing machine, provides you with many options to choose from, but
your will makes the final decision.
So much in life is beyond your control. Whatever, that is your
life and only you can decide to be happy. You can choose to be happy regardless
of your circumstances. Your happiness is a result of your decision to be happy.
Your emotions and feelings are created by your thoughts.
Happiness or unhappiness cannot exist on its own. It
occurs because of your thoughts, which can be changed by your will, if you
decide to do so. If you can think, you can change.
Your past thoughts are about events, however glorious they
might have been, that are no longer real. The good or bad experience is gone
and exists solely in your mind as a memory. Yesterday is a bygone day, today is
a new day, and tomorrow is another day. Ruminating about the past only
paralyzes the present and may even doom the future with anticipatory anxiety.
How you process your thoughts will make a big difference in your life!
Changing the thinking mind
Your brain is the hardware of your whole being. Make it
functional! Make it productive, not lethargic as in the case of depression. A
functional brain makes you younger for longer.
If you want to be what you really want to be, you must
make your brain work for you, not against you. Your brain plays a pivotal role
in your personality, feelings, and behavior because it is the seat of your perception
and experience. It controls
YOU control your own thinking; your brain creates your own
world—how you live your life, and how happy you are. It is all in your mind.
You are responsible for how you feel - even the stresses in life.
Deep limbic system (near the center of your brain)
People and events do not necessarily cause your moodiness,
irritability, negative thinking, decreased motivation, loss of appetite, and insomnia
(all common symptoms of depression).
Your deep limbic system may be the culprit. How? Your
deficiency of neurotransmitters may increase metabolism or inflammation in your
deep limbic system, leading to its malfunctioning.
Overactive deep limbic system
An overactive deep limbic system may make you do the
following:
You look back at the past, and you feel regret.
You look at the present, and you feel dissatisfaction.
You look at the future, and you feel anxiety.
These negative thoughts are known as automatic negative
thoughts (ANT).
Healing deep limbic system
The only way to heal your deep limbic system is: change
your moment-to-moment thought patterns. Learn to rethink your thinking. Change
your thought patterns. Yes, you can do it! Everybody can! Rethink your thinking of your thinking mind.
Stephen Lau
Copyright© by Stephen Lau
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