dailydatewithgod

It is no secret what our minds are primed for because there is a voice that is constantly chattering away at us.  It is often a voice of fear about what might go wrong, about what is currently not what it is supposed to be or about how it is not going to change.  Our minds seem to be primed for potential danger.  Although we would not word it as danger from an evolutionary standpoint, danger is exactly what we are how we are primed.  Avoiding danger equals survival so this is a good thing. Our minds are not a lost cause because of how we are primed.  Neuroscientists have discovered that we can change our priming.  It takes effort which requires energy and attention but it can be done.  One element of my daily date with God has been the retraining of my mind to be primed for gratitude.  I was having a discussion with a good friend this morning about the power of gratitude and how it shifts the mind.  Each time we take a breath, we can be grateful we are breathing. There is a never-ending list of things to be grateful for at any moment.  I am grateful to know how to type which gives me the means to express myself in writing on an electronic device.  I am grateful to have fingers that can feel the keys.  It is easy to go with the default priming of negative expectations or worry.  When we remember that with each breath we awaken and invite our hearts into the conversation with the mind our perspective can be primed to find something in which to be grateful.  During a dark and frustrating moment or days, it can be the last thing we want to be primed to do.  Honestly, it can be irritating or unwisely used as some sort of spiritual bypass through feelings. However, after years of making gratitude an active practice I can tell you that the periods of negativity are shorter and less impactful because it literally hurts my brain to stay in that space.