“What Your Brain Doesn’t Know, But Will Tell You Anyway”
Posted: Wednesday, July 21, 2010
by Robert Bregman
Awhile back, Jean Horst wrote an article " The Glaringly Obvious… or What Your Brain Kn
In my life Ive found out that the biggest liar I know is me. How does that happen? I mean well, but I'm always trying to think ahead. How does one think ahead? Well, if you've got a brain and most of us do, we use it to think. Think up schemes; think about tomorrows weather, or where the stock market will be sometime in the future. Then we start to worry. Will our picnic plans be ruined, will our 401K become a 201K again? Where do these ideas come from? The brain of course. And the problem is that the brain lies. It doesn't mean to lie, but it can't help itself. I ask it a question and it tries to answer, but bottom line as much as it tries, it can't predict the future.
How many times have you worried about something; taking a test, meeting new people, paying the mortgage? Plenty, right? How many times did worrying help the out come of your distress? I would venture that it never helped and caused a great deal of aggravation before the subject of the worry came to pass. And when it finally did come to pass, the event wasn't nearly as bad as you thought it would be. Keep remembering, your brain doesn't have clue about the future. It doesn't even know if you'll be here tomorrow. So the old WWI song was exactly right;
"What's the use of worrying,
It never was worthwhile,
So pack up your troubles in your old kit bag and
Smile, smile, smile "
Yeah, you can do it! I did. I stopped worrying a long time ago.
Good luck
Bob Bregman is a graduate of the US Naval Academy, Class of '51. He is probably not the youngest author on SearchWarp (might be the oldest)
, just an old sea dog. He flew B-29's during the Korean conflict. He spent 25 years in Wall Street as a trader. He then went into the corporate world, a very ugly place. Cheating, lying, stealing and bribery were SOP from DuPont to Exxon. He retired in 1990 and went back to trading. Oiy! So then he went to selling computers, it was lonely trading. Selling was more fun. Then he sold Nissans, Hondas, and finally Fords. That was fun. Started to get old so he retired again. Now writing, because he's really irritated with his country's direction as personified by the Republicans & Tea Party horn blowing.
, just an old sea dog. He flew B-29's during the Korean conflict. He spent 25 years in Wall Street as a trader. He then went into the corporate world, a very ugly place. Cheating, lying, stealing and bribery were SOP from DuPont to Exxon. He retired in 1990 and went back to trading. Oiy! So then he went to selling computers, it was lonely trading. Selling was more fun. Then he sold Nissans, Hondas, and finally Fords. That was fun. Started to get old so he retired again. Now writing, because he's really irritated with his country's direction as personified by the Republicans & Tea Party horn blowing. This Article has been viewed 430 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
Top-level comments on this article: (9 total)My father used to sing that song often, I love it! Everything you say here is so true, I really enjoyed reading, thanks!
Hi Robert,Indeed, there's no use worrying too much about certain things when we ourselves are damn unsure what will be the outcome but because the brain in us tells us to. Our own brain lies all the time that's to say our body can take charge of our brain and not the other way around.This is interesting as well.Thank you, Hilda. If one practices constantly, like the piano or golf, the brain quiets down and the body takes over, doing everything by rote. As soon as the brain wakes up to what's going on, zap, that's the end of the good playing. It's called choking. Right?Good luck.
Great words of wisdom. I am actually learning to stop worrying and conquer my life-long depression through neurofeedback. It has been amazingly effective and one of these days I'll write an article about how neurofeedback has changed my life. Keep on writing Robert...I always enjoy your articles.Hi Debi,Thanks for the encouraging words.. wink, wink
Great article Robert. Worry is SUCH a waste of time, isn't it?Joyce, you bet it is! Enjoy a productive worry free life.
You're absolutely right that the brain cannot predict the future. I tried it a couple of times and it didnt turn out nothing like I thought. Sometimes it turned out better or worst. Then with all that, we only use a small portion of our brain, which means are we really examining all of what our brain has to offer.Jim,"It is the wisdom of God to keep the future dark". Sometimes I think He doesn't want us to know the past either, the way we ignore the lessons.
Nice article. I like the words in the song: smile, smile, smile--many say that laughter is a medicine--thanks.Hi, Steve,It gives me great pleasure to contribute a bit to someone else's joy.Thank you for your comment.
Wonderful article maaan, Short, Touching and Informational!The brain is one of things we only have control of and we should keep it that way.Kim,Thanks for the comment. Are you South Vietnamese? My daughter in law is from Vietnam. Are you all so intelligent?No, i am from Korea ^^. And thanks for the compliment :D
Hi Robert.I gave up wearing a watch many, many years ago. It was a source of too much worry for me. I put faith in my sense of time, instead. It started me on the path of not worrying. But it's been a long road and old habits are hard to break. I've made progress, but I would like to make more. Your article puts it all in perspective very concisely. What a treasure!DianneHang in there Dianne. Your brain will try to talk you into all sorts of things so that it can get you to worry again. It's like going on a diet. You start out nicely and then your brain starts to rationalize; "I don't feel so good, gee, I have a headache, etc.. Well maybe it's because I'm hungry/" You get it? Luckily it doesn't take quite as much will power to stop worrying as it does to cut down on eating.Good luckBob
I especially love your 401 to 201 K phrase - never thought of it w=that way but that is exactly what happened, isn't it?
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