As a psychology student, I find myself thinking often about our thoughts, emotions, behavior, and how the three interact with and affect one other. I\u2019m someone who reads scholarly journal articles for fun and often personifies my brain in casual conversations, saying, \u201cMy brain did this,\u201d or \u201cMy brain thought that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As I wrap up my undergrad career and prepare for grad school (all at the University of Central Florida\u2014go Knights!), I\u2019ve learned that many of the reasons behind what we think, feel, and do are to make ourselves feel good<\/strong>, protect ourselves<\/strong>, or avoid cognitive dissonance<\/strong> (discomfort we experience with contradictory beliefs or behaviors). Our brains create stories, the accuracy of which can be unreliable, and we want those stories to have endings that make sense to us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This doesn\u2019t mean that our thoughts or feelings can\u2019t be trusted. On the contrary, I believe they both play important roles in our lives that are vital to learn about, pay attention to, and care for. What\u2019s just as important, though, is an awareness that our thoughts and feelings don\u2019t always communicate what\u2019s objectively factual in ourselves, others, and the world<\/strong>. This can be really hard<\/em> to differentiate and manage, and doing so takes lots of continual, mindful practice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n With all that in mind, I\u2019ve found it valuable to translate some of the psychological concepts I\u2019ve learned into actual thoughts or feelings I might have on any given day or in any given situation. Like stories, these ways of thinking portray characters, narratives, storylines, and emotions all with hopes of tying it all up in a bow that\u2019s pretty to us<\/em> at the end. Gaining an awareness of these stories I\u2019ve told myself has helped me grow immensely, especially when what I become aware of makes me uncomfortable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some of the stories we might tell ourselves to feel good, protect ourselves, and avoid cognitive dissonance:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Feeling Good<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Protecting Ourselves<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Avoiding Cognitive Dissonance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Let\u2019s be clear: I\u2019ve had many (if not all) of these thoughts, and still do at times. Who doesn\u2019t like to feel good, protected, and comfortable at their deepest, mental, and emotional levels? These stories are our brain\u2019s and body\u2019s ways of keeping our whole selves at some sort of comfortable, functional equilibrium. As you can imagine, though, these stories can have consequences that are unintentional and minor at best and intentionally harmful at worst.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One doesn\u2019t need to dive deep into the world of psychology like I have to know that our thoughts, feelings, and behaviors have influence (probably more influence than we realize). My hope is that becoming aware of the stories we tell ourselves might help us be kinder<\/strong>, lean into what\u2019s uncomfortable<\/strong>, and maybe even gain a newfound respect<\/strong> for each other along the way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Respectfully\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n RSoto<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a psychology student, I find myself thinking often about our thoughts, emotions, behavior, and how the three interact with and affect one other. I\u2019m someone who reads scholarly journal articles for fun and often personifies my brain in casual conversations, saying, \u201cMy brain did this,\u201d or \u201cMy brain thought that.\u201d As I wrap up … <\/p>\n