| There’s a bundle of neurons in our brainstem called the Reticular Activating System, or RAS. RAS always makes me think of Rizzo (RIZ) in the movie Grease – remember her? She was sassy and sarcastic and didn’t care at all what others thought of her, so my RAS has been christened RIZ since they share similar traits.
RAS/RIZ is responsible for our ability to focus and how we ultimately perceive the world. She’s a gatekeeper in charge of what we see and what we don’t. The challenge is, I haven’t given RIZ any direction so she’s just doing it her way – just like Rizzo would. How does she do her job?She listens to my thoughts because that’s what she assumes I want to pay attention to. She shows me more of what I’m already paying attention to. Let’s look at a couple of examples:
- I just came across a gorgeous pair of bright blue shoes that I really want to purchase. I’ve already started picturing them with a couple of outfits in my closet. I’m so delighted, nobody has anything like these! OR DO THEY? Because suddenly it seems that every other woman I see is wearing a pair of bright blue shoes – how did they beat me to it so quickly?
- I’ve been in kind of a funk lately and things aren’t going as I’d like them to, taking way longer than they should and feeling much harder to accomplish. Upon reflection, I notice that I’ve had thoughts like “I don’t know how to do this,” and “I don’t have the skill/money/time/energy for that.”
Where is RIZ in these examples? She’s plugging diligently along, showing me all of the things in my world that reinforce what I’m already thinking about – bright blue shoes and hard things.
I’ve decided it’s time to take charge of RIZ by 1) becoming very consistent with my am/pm beliefs and affirmations practice, 2) setting an hourly reminder to check in with my thoughts/instructions to her, and 3) getting very clear about what it is I want to experience and making sure RIZ is regularly reminded and focused.
If you have techniques that help you manage your RIZ, I’d love to hear about them! |
|
