Taking the New Path

It is hard to change paths.  Our minds can easily be set on a default pattern that continues on its’ own without any conscious effort on our part.  The brain is programmed for default patterns.  We like routine, we like structure.  But what do we do when that routine is not in our best interest?  How do we change the patterns?

I personally like studying the brain and the mind, how they intersect and how they connect and work side by side.  It was once thought that the brain was separate from the mind, like a physical organ that the mind simply moved around.  However, science is showing us that they are not as separate as once thought.  The thoughts and emotions that we have are as much a part of the physical organ of the brain as they are in the mind.

So where does one start and the other begin?  I believe we will know more about that in times to come.  What we do know is that the brain is very neuro-plastic, meaning it can bend and change.  It is adaptable, malleable, and responsive to the power of the mind.  Now that we know that we realize that neuro-pathways can be altered as well.

I like to use the analogy of walking down a path in the forest over and over again.  It is so worn that nothing grows there any longer and the rain runs off like it is cement.  We do the same things over and over and those paths become default.  For example, we have the same emotional reactions to the same triggers.  We have the same thoughts when someone treats us a certain way.  But with intention and practice we can change that course and turn our thoughts and emotional patterns as well as our behaviors down a new path.  Once we do this over and over the path becomes clear and well-worn.  Usually the old path can still be seen yet it is overgrown and no longer a path of choice.

So I would encourage you to practice a new path, turn your mind, respond differently with intention, and see what path lies ahead for you.