Brain Chemistry (10 December 2009)
One of the songs from the 1947 musical production “Brigadoon,” by Frederick Lowe and Alan Jay Lerner, included a song entitled, “It’s Almost Like Being in Love”:
What a day this has been / What a rare mood I'm in Why, it's almost like being in love There's a smile on my face / For the whole human race Why, it's almost like being in love.
That is a perfect description of good brain chemistry. Most people have had that experience, whether because you met someone “special” or had a special experience that facilitated your entering the kind of expansive mood that allows you to have a smile on your face for the whole human race. If you’re like most people, you have been conditioned to think that those feelings have an external cause, whether falling in love, participating in a special event (such as a birthday party or holiday gathering), getting something special. At various times in my life, getting my driver's license, a red sports car, a motorcycle, a really good stereo system, and a HD TV allowed me to enter that special state—at least temporarily.
Now, if you wanted to have those feelings regularly (don’t you) without having to rely on something external to facilitate your having them, how would you go about it? This question has been pondered by mystics, saints, sages, and philosophers for thousands of years. The consensus is essentially that “the Kingdom of Heaven is within.”
French philosopher Gabriel Marcel divided existence into what he called the Problematical World and the Ontological Mystery The problematical world isn’t just the world of problems but is rather the world of problem solving. You are solving a problem when you go to the store and buy groceries. You are solving a problem when you commute to work. The problematical world is the aspect of existence that presents problems both large and small. The ontological mystery, on the other hand, are those times and places where you have the sense that it is almost like being in love.
Because those feelings are based on brain chemistry, and because you have experienced those feelings in the past, your brain already knows what kind of chemicals to produce for you to re-experience that sense of having a smile on your face for the whole human race—and for everything else as well. And the more you remember the times and circumstances when you felt that way, the better your brain will learn which chemicals you want it to produce. Set an anchor—whether visual, auditory, or kinesthetic—that will help your brain remember. And set it again every time you catch yourself feeling really good. If you are familiar with the NLP technique of amplifying anchors (see p. 98 in Healing with Language: Your Key to Effective Mind-Body Communication, by Bowman and Basham), go ahead and amplify the state.
To learn more about the process of creating feel good states, download a copy of the FREE e-book, The Power of Presence: Seeing the Divine in Everyday Life (7 Keys to More Joyful Living) from the following Web address: http://www.scs-matters.com/FreeE-book.shtml And enjoy the wonderful adventure called being alive.
joel@scs-matters.com
www.scs-matters.com
