Chapter 5 2.b Control your own brain

If we don't control our own brains, and don't even realize that we can control our brains, we can only be controlled by our brains.Let us first describe a scenario that is particularly common in everyday life. Maybe it's because the exam is approaching, maybe it's because of work needs, you have to finish reading a book now.Of course, this book cannot be a romance novel, which can be read at a glance; it requires you to read and understand it carefully, and it may even require you to further create something based on the principles or rules it states to be considered real acquisition.

After some struggle, you finally decide to "officially begin"!You can open a page on your favorite sofa and start reading.After a while, you suddenly feel very thirsty, so you go out to find water.Opening the refrigerator, he took out a bottle of drink and poured it into a glass.Just took a sip and suddenly remembered, no, you shouldn't drink this sugary drink!Really!It's your mother's fault, no matter how many times she says it, she won't remember to separate the sugary drinks from the non-sugar ones.So, you ran to your mother's bedroom, argued with her, and finally found that it didn't help, so you had to come back angrily and rearrange the refrigerator.

You go back to the couch and read your book.After watching for a while, you changed your posture.Coincidentally, you accidentally pressed the remote control of the TV, and the TV suddenly turned on.This presenter just happens to be your favorite and wow, this dress she's wearing today is so pretty!But why is today's topic so boring? !Involuntarily, you still watched this program for a while, and then flipped through other TV stations with the remote control... Fortunately, at this time, several TV stations in a row did not have any good programs, so you were a little disappointed and thought: The current programs are really good. boring!Might as well read a book.

Ok?Why are you so thirsty?You just remembered that you put that sugary drink on your mother's table after you cleaned up the refrigerator just now, and after that, you forgot to refill yourself a glass of sugar-free drink and went straight back to On to the couch.So, you get up and go get something to drink.After taking two sips, you suddenly remembered that the drink you are drinking now is your favorite drink.This is the kind of drink your ex-boyfriend offered you on your first date... well, where is he now and what is he doing? The phone rang, a text message.A friend asked what are you doing?You don't have the nerve to say you're studying; you just reply vaguely that you're sick and resting at home and don't want to go out...you go back to the couch.After thinking about it, let's change the background music, it's too sad now.So, you turn around and change to a CD, then sit back and start reading.After a while, you suddenly realized that you were in a daze just now, so you shivered.Then, subconsciously, you look at your watch, oh my god, an hour has passed, and you haven't even finished a page of the book.

Does the scene above look very familiar?I'm definitely not talking about you, but you sure know you've been in a similar situation.Do you know why this happens?The answer is that your brain is too active.It is a good thing for a person to have an active brain, but, in many cases, it can also be a bad thing-as you saw earlier.Your brain is very active, and your attention is most receptive to its commands; so, without you even realizing it, it is constantly manipulating your attention.Then, you are so easily swayed by your brain. You may have struggled a long time to really understand this truth: your brain is not you, your brain is (belongs to) "your" brain.Although you use it to think as if it guides your actions, understand that you should not belong to your brain, but you should own your brain and you should be able to control your brain.

This is a difficult thing to explain in words alone, but if I give you an example or two, you can figure it out right away.I wonder if you have seen the famous movie "A Beautiful Mind" (A Beautiful Mind) yet?The protagonist John Nash in the movie is a good example: he is the first widely known person in history who "conquered his own mental illness with his own spirit".In other words, Nash learned to control his brain through struggle and was no longer controlled by the hallucinations in his brain. Another classic example is the famous psychologist Victor Frank.His parents, wife, and brothers all died at the hands of the Nazis, while he himself was tortured in a Nazi concentration camp.One day, he was naked and alone in the cell, and suddenly he had a brand new feeling - he suddenly wanted to understand, "Even in an extremely harsh environment, people will have a final freedom, that is to choose freedom of one's own attitude."

Let's put it another way, that is, after the sudden awakening, Frank finally understands that he can actually control his brain instead of being swayed by his own brain!Therefore, in the most difficult years, he chose a positive attitude.He is not pessimistic.Instead, he imagined in his mind how he would stand on the podium after he regained his freedom and tell his students about this painful experience.With this positive and optimistic way of thinking, although Frank is in a prison, he can actually let his mind go beyond the confinement of the cage and gallop freely in the free world.

This is called using the mind to be liberated.No longer allow yourself to be a slave to your own brain, but choose to turn over and be the master.I clearly remember the feeling of chills all over my body when I suddenly wanted to understand this truth.It's not so much "lost and found" as it is "doing it all over again".When I was very young, I heard Lao Cui screaming, "I don't want to leave, I don't want to exist, I want to die and start all over again!" At that time, I heard goosebumps all over my body, and I understood that it was a kind of helplessness, no one can start all over again , let alone a person who does not believe in reincarnation.However, when I suddenly realized that I could (and should) control my own brain, I thought it was amazing that I could start all over again without dying.