As the mother of two young kids with a third on the way, I am terrified, to put it bluntly
I keep hearing that having three kids is difficult and a struggle. As the mother of two young kids with a third on the way, I am terrified, to put it bluntly. I’m already feeling overwhelmed, overworked, and exhausted. My dread and worry about how I will manage to balance it all is growing with each passing day. How can I turn these negative thoughts into ones of anticipation?
Taking care of small children is an exhausting task, and when you’re in the midst of it — barely keeping your head above water — it’s impossible to imagine doing even more than you’re already doing. Imagining is the act of generating pictures (either pleasant ones or unpleasant ones) in our minds. Also called “thinking,” this activity generates brain chemistry. Every thought or visual image is accompanied by one of two types of chemistry: depleting chemistry or energizing chemistry. If you think a sad, discouraged, or hopeless thought, the chemistry will be draining, sapping you of whatever little strength you have. If you worry (form a picture of something bad happening), you’ll experience the agitating, stress-inducing chemistry of mobilization. Fortunately, you’re asking the right question: How can you change your thoughts so that they will produce good physical and emotional consequences?
The first thing to realize is that your brain is a thinking/imagining machine. Its job is to generate thoughts and images all day, every day. Just as your heart beats and your lungs breathe, your brain thinks, and, as with the other organs, it undertakes this activity without your intervention or permission. But here’s the really good news: If you don’t like the way it’s currently running, you can change it.
The first step is to notice what your brain is currently doing. Simply noticing what it’s doing interrupts the automatic activity of the brain. Did you ever learn a breathing technique that involved inhaling and exhaling according to a specific way of counting? Many people find that when they first try to interfere with their breath, they become unable to breathe. We want to actually use that phenomenon intentionally when it comes to reprogramming our thinking habits. If we notice our depressing and anxiety-provoking thoughts when they happen, it puts the first dent in the automatically generated neural program.
Create a free account to keep reading.
