Whether or not you realize it or not, we live in a system that predisposes us to a constant barrage of negativity, for most of us our daily rituals are by nature setting us up to ingest copious amounts of negative input. Whether it’s social media, the news, Netflix or other people, we are consistently exposed to the drama cycle. Technology, although serving us well in many respects, has led us down a rabbit hole to a particularly interesting existence of spending hours upon hours each day staring at a screen. If someone had told me the amount of time each day that I would engage in this way a decade ago I wouldn’t have believed them and I think we would all be shocked if we added up the hours. All of these stimuli shape our perceptions and our emotions and here’s the caveat, you don’t get a say over it. Your brain doesn’t distinguish between what is true and what is untrue; it just soaks up the stimuli and responds accordingly. The question then becomes, How much time should we spend in each camp in order to maintain our mental and emotional wellbeing? The importance of this balance is crucial in order to live a happy and inspired existence.
It never ceases to amaze me how willing we all are ( myself included ) to consume a great amount of negativity via the aforementioned sources and yet we spend so little time balancing out the scales to input positivity. It seems like a bore or we feel as though we don’t have time to meditate or experience something like hypnotherapy or practice gratitude which is in essence an experience of listening to words of reassurance, encouragement and inspiration. It’s no wonder we often feel overwhelmed, stressed out and depleted. We are consistently tipping the scales in the direction of negativity and spending so much of our time in fight or flight to some lesser or greater degree. I wonder what the world would look like if these scales were balanced a bit more fairly. If we took the time for self care in this way consistently, imagine how happy we could all be. It makes complete sense when you really think about it, a consistent input of positivity directly into our brain and therefore the body would likely result in more equilibrium, more peace, more harmony, etc. etc. etc. Thinking, doing, being. This is how we do being us. The reality is that you are what you most often think and if your cognitive input is outweighed in negativity chances are your thoughts will reflect that. The question then becomes who do you want to be? And then act in accordance to be that and that probably comes with balancing out those scales. It’s so much more than just being good for us; it’s who we are. We have to grab the reins and steer our path or our minds will steer it for us. It’s a simple equation really. Be empowered to be the creator of your own life. It’s your birthright as the divine being that you are to live your life on your terms not the terms of the system that we live in. To focus your attention and go within is a skill and the more you practice the better you get at it. You had better believe that you are worthy of being the best version of you that you can be.
The balance between positive and negative stimulus is a delicate one that has such a profound effect on our wellbeing. Although it’s not possible to eliminate all negative stimuli you certainly do get to control how much you are exposed to on a daily basis. Finding balance in our lives is a phrase I hear often, it’s a lifelong process to retain equilibrium, we are all a work in progress requiring attention to these pursuits forevermore. It’s not a one and done. We are ever changing, ever evolving beings that require ongoing maintenance in order to live well.
Practicing gratitude, meditation and hypnotherapy are a few ways we can cultivate positive habits into our life to balance out the scales. However, taking action is key because the world does not respond to your wishes, your wants or your desires it responds to your actions; actions speak louder than words, in fact actions speak louder than everything and when you apply something on a regular basis you get results. The reality is that our future is only somewhat unpredictable; a large chunk of our future comes down to what we do in our present moments. The good news is that you have far more control over your future than you probably thought you did. So what is one small thing that you will take action on in this present moment to get very different results in your life?