Job loss or economic woes? Why do tough times stir despair in some and courage in others, especially during holidays like Christmas? When people feel life hitting back – below the belt, why do some rise and some fall?
I’d been inspired in discussions on this dilemma, with Robyn, Eva, Greg, Pamir, Jeannie, Lissa, Janet and Dean. Great ideas from smart leaders whose blogs nudge us deeper into keys for Christmas contentment. Whether you celebrate Hanukkah or other holiday events, key principles for contentment come hardwired into your brain. Have you noticed?
I love to read Christmas stories to my grandchildren, and in classics such as Papa Panov, we unwrap endless tales of overwhelmed and overjoyed as polar opposites in people’s response to holiday stress. You may wonder, How can toxins take us down, when holidays like Christmas should come with sprigs of magic?
Surprisingly, overwhelmed people sometimes sport bigger bank accounts, better health – even positive attitudes, or finer intentions. Have you seen it too? Equally surprising, is the fact that some people in the overjoyed camp often face life’s bigger challenges. Their 401K nest eggs melt into 101 ashes, health care drops off their firm’s benefit package just when they need it most. You can likely name endless other direct hits from an economy that seems more like a shipwreck than a holiday sail.
Research shows how human brains equip people to fill holidays with cheer – in spite of debris that washes up to spoil life’s shores. How so? The brain’s power tools can help you build wonder in places where you’ve settled for woe’s misery in the past.
Smile, regardless of how you feel, for example, and your brain’s plasticity changes in your favor. The action triggers your brain to create new neuron pathways toward a happier reality.
Give even a small gift of encouragement or support, without conditions, and in spite of personal loss. In response, your brain raises levels of serotonin chemicals for sustainable well being.
Mimic the actions of a person you most admire for their holiday spirit, and your brain rewires dendrite brain cells for more of the same admirable spirit in you. Develop a new intelligence at the same time, and your brain rewires itself for further growth in that area.
Discover one new insight by converting a rut into a renewed reality you’d like others to see in you. Phone one person you dislike today and invite that person to lunch to find out what’s working well in life. Curiosity and this call moves your brain’s basal ganglia from the rut of loathing into newly created possibilities lived from within your working memory.
Support one person who thinks on the opposing side of your own holiday views, and watch how your concrete defense of that person will leave you mentally able to override your brain’s default for ruts that held you back in past. The action shows you new possibilities where you may have slipped into limiting problems in past.
Can you see how brain based recommendations here carry you to realities rooted in new hopes and pathways paved with possibilities? Do a few simple behaviors, and your brain does the rest for you.
Use any one of the above brainpower tools by simply doing a related act and you’ll spark brain cell regeneration for more satisfaction. Or create a brain power tool of your own and then use it, in spite of troubled times. Scientifically speaking, these tips come from neurogenesis research on how adult brains can grow new cells or regenerate old ones. Worth a try?
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Thanks Eva! You build a good case for the wonderful way a person’s gene pool and socialization work together Eva. Research would support your notion of action here – but I love the song and dance combo! Must remember that one!
Nothing truer ever said. No matter how disadvantaged you were born consequently predisposed to depression; action, your action can dispel even the most unhappy brain. A smile takes you a long way away from a miserable situation and if things get really desperate, nothing better than to sing and dance… I usually end up singing Liebster Jesu in other words Oh noble head once wounded… But there’s also Hot Cross Buns or Jingle Bells since its this time of the year.
Thanks for your kind words and encouragement, Lissa! Life is a real treat when it gets lived out with fine thinkers like you on keen topics of shared interest. The cool part is that another corner rounded – promises another wonder observed! Now that makes the journey a treat for the future as well:-)
You never fail to amaze me with the agile and powerful ways you make the process of improving our experience of life – and our capacity to live it well – simple and clear.
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I’m going to target the laughing more as I prep for Christmas. Great idea and I can see that it takes just a bit of focus.
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Thanks Eva! You build a good case for the wonderful way a person’s gene pool and socialization work together Eva. Research would support your notion of action here – but I love the song and dance combo! Must remember that one!
Nothing truer ever said. No matter how disadvantaged you were born consequently predisposed to depression; action, your action can dispel even the most unhappy brain. A smile takes you a long way away from a miserable situation and if things get really desperate, nothing better than to sing and dance… I usually end up singing Liebster Jesu in other words Oh noble head once wounded… But there’s also Hot Cross Buns or Jingle Bells since its this time of the year.
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Thanks for your kind words and encouragement, Lissa! Life is a real treat when it gets lived out with fine thinkers like you on keen topics of shared interest. The cool part is that another corner rounded – promises another wonder observed! Now that makes the journey a treat for the future as well:-)
You never fail to amaze me with the agile and powerful ways you make the process of improving our experience of life – and our capacity to live it well – simple and clear.
Guess its all that brain work, huh?