“Silence is the only language that god speaks, everything else is a bad translation.”
Day 27 Morning Scoreboard and Spirituality Self-Reflection:
Intrinsic vs Extrinsic Motivation
In our culture, gaining happiness is mostly portrayed as what happens after you achieve wealth or fame. Research has shown, however, that once your net income as a household is above $80,000 per year, wealth no longer affects your average happiness, no matter how high you climb on the economic ladder. So what does increase someone's happiness? Well, research is now indicating that people who are "intrinsically motivated" become the happiest overall. This means these individuals do a task because they want to, not because they have to or believe it will bring them approval. When people follow their internal desires, instead of bending to societal pressures, their brains become much better at problem-solving because their minds are not bogged down by background noise telling them to change course. Research has even shown that the happiest people in life become the most successful. So it turns out, that happiness is what leads to success and not the other way around. In contrast, people who are "externally motivated" report less life satisfaction overall, even when they achieve their stated desires of wealth and fame. So before you start to climb the ladder of success, make sure it is leaning up against the right building.
FACT: When you smile, even if it's fake, your peripheral vision increases by 40%.
TAKEAWAY: Smiling helps you see other options and thereby increases your problem solving ability. When your in fight or flight response you get tunnel vision to focus on the threat in front of you. When you smile you feel safer and able to look around you more freely.
Witnessing Presence
Behind the relentless mental chatter in your head, there is "something" there that is calm and quiet. When people stop and look for this stillness they often describe it as a “silence that isn’t empty.” We’re taught as a culture to identify with the voice in our head as “you.” However, for centuries spiritual gurus have advocated that who you really is the “witnessing presence” behind all the mental noise. They describe this "you" as a quiet observer who listens but never says a word. It may be hard to even imagine a time when your inner voice isn't taking up all the airwaves, but when you pause and look for this silence, sure enough there it was. After finally meeting “yourself” for the first time and becoming friends with this “observer,” you might realize how nice it is to check in with “him” or "her." Distancing yourself from the mental noise might even help you realize that the chattering in your head isn't as powerful as it wants you to believe. Over time, you might come to accept that the voice inside of "you" isn't "you" at all.
FACT: 85% of the cells in your brain are glial cells; commonly called “glue cells” or connective tissue that holds the rest of the neurons together.
TAKEAWAY: "God" is often described as the “invisible glue that holds everything together.” In this case, science and theology agree as many things that we can’t see still benefit us immensely: such as gravity, dark matter in space, or glial cells that help us function and hold our lives (and brains) together.
“Rather than being your thoughts or your emotions. Be the awareness that is behind them.”