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It’s great to have all this brainpower, and the switch inside your head that controls it all, as we said earlier, is the Reticular Activating System.
For those of you who enjoy scientific explanations, the Reticular Activating System is a complex collection of neurons that serve as a point of convergence for signals from the external world and from your interior environment. In other words, it is the part of your brain where the world outside of you meets the world inside and connects with your thoughts and feelings.
This switch is responsible for you being conscious and paying attention. It runs all the way up to the center of the brain and connects with your emotions and feelings.
For people who don’t realize they have a switch that controls their operating system (the three brains), it can be like operating with a faulty circuit. If you’ve ever had your cable go out, that’s what it’s like inside your head. Let’s say you’re driving to work. You know the route well and you’re on autopilot. Suddenly a car cuts in front of you: The outer world has impacted your inner world. If you are not in control of your switch, you’ll go back and forth between the animal brain and the human brain—between feelings of rage and logic—until the strongest one wins and you will either calm down or flip out.
For some people, it’s a choice they make. Like our friend Steve, who seems to enjoy getting frustrated with other car drivers and makes a game of it. “It’s the one place where I can legitimately blow off steam,” he told us. Not that Steve has road rage and drives like a maniac, tailgating and hurling abuse. His reactions while driving are more in the line of “I can’t believe that person just did that” or “I just don’t get it. This is a straight three-lane highway that goes for hundreds of miles. How can we be slowed down to a halt? We should all be able to drive at the same speed!” His (whimsical) solution was: “I wish there were helicopters with giant magnets attached so they could pick up the cars causing the problem and put them by the side of the road so we could all get past.” Now, if Steve ever starts saying these things without the humor in his voice, it would be time to get worried. That’s because the animal brain doesn’t have a sense of humor!
People who operate their switch have a sense of their own well-being, an awareness of how they want to be. And even if they don’t always make the switch as often as they would like, they still know that they’re in charge. They take responsibility for their actions.
We are still in the midst of evolving and learning about Switch. As we evolve from human animal into human being you will see miracles happen. People you believed were nasty and rude will become warm and loving. Situations and relationships you thought were irrevocably destroyed will become renewed and energized. And it will happen because you made the switch. Here’s what a couple of people have said about it:
The teachings are full of promise and enthusiasm. The new way of thinking and looking at things are believable. The habits I have formed are, however, a bit resistant still. Each day is a little life, and now I’m living with a more deliberate style.
I am being amazing! And to make sure, I’m asking myself just that in the mirror every morning. I’ve noticed I feel more comfortable doing it now that it’s repetitive. Thank you for an eye-, mind-, and soul-opening experience! |
