Hope4meSenior Contributor
Retraining our brains..
Good morning everyone;
I've mentioned how my new business plans are moving forward to family members a few times, and was puzzled by their responses of pretend smiles, an "Oh, well that's great." comment, then they redirect conversation to something drastic that's happening in their lives or someone elses.
I suspected they weren't interested, mainly due to them not asking questions or engaging with me on the topic. It hurt to be fobbed off like that. Today though, I'm thinking their attitudes might be a learned pattern of behaviour to avoid positivity or my success. I'm not taking it personally now.
People forget or can be ignorant of the fact that our brains are physical organs. 'Thinking' is one of its jobs which gives us the ability to problem solve and so on.
Pathways are created as soon as a faetus has the capacity to form thought, these change as the child learns and develops into adulthood. Why then would we think we're incapable of recovering and healing?
Trauma such as complex ptsd damages the physical brain, but it's now known that new pathways can be created to bypass scarr tissue so healing can occur; just as a child recovers after the trauma of birth. (Neuro-plasticity)
My family, (just as I did prior to recovery) focus on the 'down-side' as a normal pattern of response to life's situations; it's habitual like an addiction.
Retraining our physical brain to support us through MH recovery is a long, arduous and painstaking process of 'rote learning'; just like teaching ourselves times-tables at school or driving a car. Practicing new and positive habits over and over until they're automatic is the only way to heal our wounded minds.
I still know my tables and won't ever forget how to drive. These are testaments to my capacity to absorb and retain knowledge which I've applied in my recovery process.
One tiny step of change prepares us to move on. Each lesson practiced and learned before moving on to the next; just like maths...addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, fractions, percentages, algebra and then scentific notation.
For example, you can't possibly expect to manage your illness unless you practice mindfulness (living in the moment) and so on.
This is how recovery works.
If you've reached the end of my post you've done well. lol It's a long read, but hopefully a thought provoking one. I'd love to hear your feedback if you're interested.
I welcome conflicting opinions too. Everything here is from my own knowledge and experience, but yours might be different. I totally respect this..
Warm thoughts;
Hope xo 
@Adge@Shaz51@Appleblossom@Zoe7@Sahara@Mazarita@Sophia1@Bunniekins
@Faith-and-Hope
@Former-Member@TAB@frog@outlander@utopia@CheerBear@Razzle@soul@Determined@LadyleahRDBloom
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