The brain is a dynamic organ constantly rewiring itself, adapting to the flow of life. Everyone experiences this malleability on a daily basis, for example someone that spends hours every day practicing basketball will get faster, better, and stronger because the brain gets better at synapsing the neurons that allow you to make those shots, so the next time that person steps onto the court it’s as if the body has an automatic response as a result of all the time spent practicing.

This neuroplasticity isn’t only limited to muscle memory, the same phenomenon occurs in response to your emotions. Through repetition of thought your brain is making bridges and cementing your default emotional response to any situation life presents you. The more you react to situations with distrust, fear, anger, or jealousy the more the brain rewires itself forming synapses that make it easier for the next situation to trigger an automatic pessimistic response. Your thoughts and feelings are physically reshaping your brain.

When your brain fires these synapses associated with stressful emotions, the hormone cortisol is released. Elevated cortisol levels interfere with learning and memory, lower immune function, increase weight gain, increase risk for depression and lower life expectancy.

As unnerving as this may sound you always have a choice in how you react to any situation: love or fear, acceptance or regret, optimism or pessimism. The more you consciously choose to react positively to any given situation, the more you’ll move those synapses closer together. Eventually the point will come where any synapses associated with a negative response will have a much smaller chance of triggering before the synapses of love, and that state of positivity eventually becomes your default.

For most of us this change in mindset is not easy, nor will it happen overnight. But just like the basketball player that practices every day, the more you exercise those loving synapses by choosing positivity over negativity, the more you will find yourself in a state of bliss and contentment that will change your perception to make the world a far more beautiful place.