Wander & Wonder

The other day, I had what would undisputedly be labeled as a ‘good day’. I finished my entire to-do list, had a lovely conversation with a patient, and went on a long run with Ghost. But that night, all I could think about was one awkward interaction I had with one of the doctors. Nothing bad even happened, it was just uncomfortable.

Today during one of our wellness session for school, the psychologist talked about something called the negativity bias. She explained that our brains naturally give more weight to negative experiences compared to positive ones, which is rooted in the way we evolved as humans. Since survival relied on being alert to danger, our brains are wired to notice threats more than rewards.

The problem is that now we live in a world where most threats aren’t life-or-death, but our brains still react like they are. One sub-par conversation or a bit of criticism can feel a lot more important than it really is, even if everything else that day went well.

Knowing this, I propose a challenge. Let us all try to actively acknowledge the positive things that happened in our days. Not by discarding negative experiences or pretending that they don’t matter, but by reminding ourselves that the good and the bad can, and most often do co-exist.

Let us also strive to sit with the good moments more; letting a compliment sink in, actually noticing when you feel content, and not rushing past a peaceful moment.

I think that the more we practice noticing the good, the more balanced our minds, and our days, will become. And perhaps over time we can transform our outdated negativity bias into a more neutral bias, or perhaps even a gentle positivity bias (although not the toxic kind of positivity…that’s a whole other issue for another time).