****Before you read anything. . . watch the video above!

 

Reticular Activating System: You See What You Beleive

This video is such an amazing example of our life! We only see what we are looking for and believe.

  • Your Reticular Activating System is a part of your brain that filters all of the information coming at you. It only takes in what you have deemed most important by your habitual mental setup.
  • If your mental muscles have been trained to look for worry, problems, and things you do not like, that is what you will see.
  • The more you focus on what you don’t like about yourself, your kids, your spouse, your life, the more reasons you will find ‘pop up’ to support what you are focusing on and believe.
  • It’s all in what you have knowingly OR unknowingly programmed your brain to do.
  • The more we shift our focus on what we like, verses what we do not like, what we have verses what we do not have, the world around you begins to change. The landscape of your brain also begins to change as you wire in new neural pathways that will alter the way you see life.

There are creative solutions to every problem, there are answers to whatever question you have, and there is so much awesomeness going on all of the time. The problem is, if you have not set your brain to look for answers or what is going right, you WON’T notice them, just like you didn’t notice the changes in the video.

We can set the filter of our brain so we can finally see what we need to see and hear what we need to hear.

Refocus

That is just the plan of the enemy isn’t it? Trying to get you to focus on what is ‘wrong’ to physically block your ability to notice what is right.

So I began an experiment to only speak positive, quit the complaining, and intentionally focus on what I wanted. . .

Eventually, I began to have ideas for problems I was dealing with, I felt more love than I thought possible for my family, and anxiety seemed to disappear despite being in one of the most stressful times in our marriage.

Did things really change or was I just finally just seeing differently?

So now I remind myself every day:

  • Focus on what you do want- you will see more of what you focus on.
  • Focus on what is going right in whatever area of life you are struggling with.
  • Focus on what you love about the people around you.
  • Focus on and speak what you do want to happen, even if you don’t see it right now.

Find a way to be grateful for any area you don’t like:

A small example: I was hating how small our house was and was starting to compare myself with others that I thought had what I wanted.

THEN—>  I started focusing on what I love about our house and just a few months later, an opportunity opened up for us to buy a house that is more than we need.

A grateful heart brings intimacy with God, from that inticamy, miriacles!

How to use your brain intentionally:

I would argue that one of the biggest problems in society is our lack of focus.

We check our phones every 2.5 seconds, binge watch Netflix like TV won’t exist next week, and spend hours lost reading or buying things on the internet.

No wonder we feel anxiety, compassion, and lack. . .that is what we are programming our brain to see!

Now more than ever it is critical that you gain mastery over being able to focus your mind on those things that are most important to you… Or you will find that with even the slightest suggestion, your attention will be thrown off, and you will find yourself thinking about your worries and losing track of what matters most.

What are you focusing on?

  • Lack? of time, money, energy. . .
  • Worry? about family, money, work, health
  • Comparison? wishing your life was more like X . .

Instead, let’s use this incredible brain God has given us to see what we need to see to change the world and create marvelous things.

How to Set the Filter of Your Brain

You can make your reticular activating system work for you or work against you.

  1. Every morning, focus on what you love and what you are grateful for
  2. Any area you are struggling with, try to find something to be grateful for in it
  3. Take a few minutes each day to visualize: your health, family, work, and life. What do you want it to be like? How do you want to feel each day?
  4. Visualize your prayers and generate the emotion of gratitude as if they were already answered.
  5. What questions do you have that you need answers to? Pray and ask these questions morning and night- this is setting the filter for you to receive the answers.

The more you focus on something — whether that’s social media, your worries, or God — the more that becomes your reality, the more it becomes written into the neural connections of your brain.

Let’s train our brain for productivity instead of distraction, peace instead of anxiety, and thankfulness instead of comparison.

That sounds great Megan, but HOW do I do that?!

For me, it has taken setting an alarm to go off throughout the day to remind me to shift my focus, energy, thoughts, and emotions in whatever way I possibly can. The more I refocus, the more I am building new neuro pathways in my brain to make it automatic. The benefits? I am less reactive in hard situations, I have more joy each day, my mind does not go crazy like it used to, and I get a heck of a lot more done and created each day!

It is absolutely amazing how disempowering distractions and intentional focus changes they way you experience life!

Related articles 

Dr. Caroline Leaf – switch on your brain

Meditation to hear from God

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One Comment

  • Gina Reedy

    Thank you! 🙂 <3

    Reply