“Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport.
General opinion’s starting to make out that we live in a world of hatred and greed, but I don’t see that.
It seems to me that love is everywhere.
Often, it’s not particularly dignified or newsworthy, but it’s always there – fathers and sons, mothers and daughters, husbands and wives, boyfriends, girlfriends, old friends.
When the planes hit the Twin Towers, as far as I know, none of the phone calls from the people on board were messages of hate or revenge – they were all messages of love.
If you look for it, I’ve got a sneaking suspicion… love actually is all around.
~ from the movie “Love Actually”
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I believe what we look for in life is what we get and thankfully all you naysayers, neuroscience has finally proven this. What we expect in life is delivered. We think a thought or review an old belief pattern and our prefrontal cortex immediately sets out to prove us to be correct. This oh so accommodating part of the brain is our most trusted friend. It proves us to be correct no matter the facts and will edit what we perceive to back up our beliefs. Think back on how many times your eyes played tricks on you?
Ever notice that once you buy a specific colored car such as red, everywhere you look, you notice red cars? Where did all these red cars come from? They’ve been there all along but now your frontal cortex is on high alert to continue to support your new red car awareness.
Same thing occurs in relationships. Once the perceived honeymoon period is over, that formerly perfect partner is now flawed and your brain is on high alert to look for other issues. (and if you’re not mindful, will find them over and over again)
How many times have you looked out to the horizon and thought you saw the mountains or ocean, a specific building or view of home while traveling many miles away?
We’ve all thought we’ve seen something that wasn’t actually there, and this works in the reverse direction too. If we tell ourselves there’s a cloud out there that looks like a dog, our brain will go into full court press to find one.
And thankfully, if you look for something in particular (like love), you’ll start to see it all around you.
xo
Image Courtesy of Pink Sherbet at Flickr Creative Commons