Your bad attitude serves an evolutionary purpose.
No, it’s not just pessimism. Whenever you find yourself fixating on anxiety and fear, it’s likely because your brain is trying to keep you safe.
Humans owe their survival as a species to highly evolved biological and psychological strategies. Case in point: the brain’s amygdala processes stimuli to help us understand which experiences are desirable and which we need to avoid. That means negative news and bad experiences linger longer in our memories than their positive equivalents. To help balance the emotional toll of focusing on negative experiences, it’s important to seek out positive experiences to counter our natural bias.
Much of the emotional suffering that we experience in the modern world can be traced back to genetically ordained behaviors. Awareness is the first step you can take to start feeling better. You can nurture a positive outlook simply by optimizing habits and practices; for example, instead of seeking out another news story about Covid, go for a quick walk or call a friend.
Ready to find that peaceful easy feeling? Our Instaread on Buddha’s Brain won’t let you down.
