Although each of the 100+ strens in this series contribute to creating a joyous, meaningful life, today’s wisdom, “The Importance of Patience” and the following, “The Secret of Acquiring Patience,” are among the most powerful I have to offer.
Today I want to reveal the secret of creating patience. In the last stren I explained that through our decades of immaturity, instinct and tradition powerfully direct our thinking because they are hard-wired to emotion. They advocate the predetermined, proven solutions that worked for yesterday’s problems. As our intelligent cortex matures, it may recognize outdated behaviors and devise better solutions.
This stren provides insight into the automatic negative thoughts that pop up regularly in our conscious awareness. Like an underground spring that bubbles water to the surface, our brain is continuously active and multitasking. Much of this underground activity has to do with the perspectives of instinct and the traditions of our nurturers. Instinct is hard-wired by our genes over the nine months prior to our birth.
Welcome to Stren # 26, that addresses one of our most important mental skills. Gratitude is appreciation for what we have received. To gratify is “to please or satisfy.” It is also from the obsolete word “grate” meaning agreeable. Gratitude is a powerful force to grow our skill in self-endorsement. Creating an attitude of gratitude offers an effective way to become our own best friend. Gratitude is an antidote for automatic negative thoughts; that is, the self-putdowns and guilt that make us our own worst enemy. I’ve received many comments on the effectiveness of today’s stren.
Today’s stren, explains why we are biased to think negatively and what we can do about it. We are by nature’s design prone to distort events towards pessimism. There is no corresponding inherited tendency to think optimistically. The earliest function of conscious awareness (consciousness) in animals and humans is to anticipate what we need and avoid danger. Our biology is ever ready to release emergency chemicals to set into action our defense from harm, and our primitive, innate way of thinking has been preprogrammed with what we call the “fight or flight” response. All life is powerfully driven to repeat the life cycle; failure to excel leads to extinction. Humankind is among the estimated 2-3% of species that prevailed.
