1 Pipe 1 Belt 1 Retooled Brain
When I approached my friend and neighbor Andy, with a metal pipe in hand, who knew this washer pipe had broken beyond repair?
Worse still – who knew I’d snap my dryer belt while my friend brilliantly replaced the washer pipe? Have you ever spiraled down faster than your brain can spring you back?
Wellbeing is contagious though, and two broken appliances proved that today beyond any reasonable doubt!
To repair the washer, Andy tossed multiple intelligences into the mix, along with a generous splash of wellbeing. His kind help resolved a practical emergency – and also revealed a brain reality.
Andy’s mindful response – left my brain primed to repair the dryer after he left, and I discovered its broken belt. The exchange boosted mental creativity to win, in spite of challenges. I know as much about fixing dryers as I do about building airplanes. Yet I grabbed the couple of tools I own and set to work as an award-winning mechanic tackles master competitions to win.
Daily we make choices to retool or retreat. We embrace new adventures or miss a chance for new skills. But it takes a certain mindset to win, especially when one thing breaks while another is being fixed.
Andy generated serotonin, when he reached beyond my simple pipe question to fix the washer problem! But did you know that the brain’s chemical for wellbeing increases possibilities whenever your talents step up to another’s plate?
Problems can increase along the way– as mine did through a second wave of disasters. Uneven loading initially broke my washer pipe, and then I exacerbated the problem when I attempted to dry water-soaked blankets. The dryer belt snapped under the weight, but my brain’s amygdala refused to snap in response.
Here’s the rub. Serotonin gave me another look at possibilities that engaged my mind in a refreshing new way. Heck, I’d never thought of fixing a dryer belt in my life!
Still fueled by serotonin after Andy fixed the washer, I set out to replace the dryer belt before others even knew it broke. The Mita Brain Center teaches that when we use mental abilities to support others, we ratchet up IQ in the process. So too, whenever we engage different intelligences – rarely ever used.
What if you stacked the deck with a creative risk that wins a solution and notches a few more IQ points today?
From the brain’s perspective – it’s the difference between spinning wheels or rekindling brainpower by tackling something novel. In my case it took a friend’s kindness and transforming a former un-talent into a fair-to-middlin’ skill. You?
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Created by Ellen Weber, Brain Based Tasks for Growth Mindset