This, I think, is the most important day of the program. Good things come to those who wait!
The following quote is, I believe, a brilliant piece of TMS healing wisdom: "[it's the times] where we gravitate toward joy, the ones where we enthusiastically embrace empowerment, the ones where we authentically aim to calm our primitive brains – these are the times where we’re truly take steps to alleviate our symptoms. As Plum brilliantly put it in the Day 17 comments, “You overcome pain incidentally, on the way to creating a happier, healthier brain ecosystem.”"
As Alan notes, there will be times when our brains go to places of fear, anxiety or panic that can hold back our natural ability to heal. This program has given incredibly powerful tools for responding to those situations. But most of the time, our TMS is a message that we need to focus on creating the happier, healthier brain ecosystem that Plum refers to.
Why is this so important? It's because there are two types of nerve pathways in our brain. There are the nerve pathways of healing, of opening up, and of joy. These pathways soothe our brains and make us stronger inside. Unfortunately, there are also the nerve pathways of fear, panic and anxiety. These feed our pain and perpetuate the pain cycle.
Which pathways win? I'll explain why below, but I personally believe that it is the ones that we feed:
Concretely, this means that 90% of the time, we want to be feeding the wolves of joy.
This may feel overwhelming - with so much chaos in our lives caused by the symptoms we suffer from, how could we possibly find joy? What I want to say is that there is ALWAYS room for joy in our lives. I know that this is true because I have seen so many people coming through these forums find equanimity and pleasure in their lives. I know it also, because I've experienced it myself (that this is why this idea is so important to me).
The pathways that we feed will win because of the greatest discovery in neuroscience and, I would say, psychology, in the 90s and the 00s: brain plasticity. Brain plasticity just means that your brain is constantly adapting to what you have it do. If you cause it to feel fear all the time, it becomes exceptionally good at feeling fear and the pain cycle continues. If you find a place for joy in your life, its capacity to feel joy grows.
Is there a simple recipe for how to do this? No. Will it be an overnight change? Also, no. It is something we all must do as a way of taking care of ourselves. It's something which builds over time. It's how we find longl
Use the tools that Alan has given you to starve the wolf of fear ... then starve the wolf of fear even more by feeding the wolves of love, happiness, connection, and openness. That, in my mind, is how true healing occurs. It is certainly what has worked for me!
As gigalos writes, "Ah, is this not happiness...."
