We already know that the brain likes what is familiar because it considers that thing as being safe because the brain knows it very well.
We see online people talking to make a behavior or belief familiar so the brain will get used to it, like it and repeat it and all this is about a new thing.
But what about the behaviors and beliefs that used to be familiar once and got replaced by new that got replaced by new negative behaviors and beliefs?
The brain does not think that a negative, but familiar behavior is harming you, it’s familiar and that’s enough for the brain to repeat it.
Here is my own example.
It was familiar for me to be happy and worry free, but this was replaced with general anxiety disorder (GAD) and depression.
The brain didn’t thought that this is harming me, so it allowed this negative familiarity to replace the familiar happiness.
But how it happened?
To make a behavior or belief familiar you have to repeat it multiple times so the brain get to know it.
In my case, it was a time when I had 8 times the minimum wage and I didn’t had to worry about anything. Everything I wanted I could buy, but suddenly I lost that income.
It got so bad that I couldn’t pay the bills. It was a time where I had to choose if I pay a part of the bills because I couldn’t afford to pay all the bills or eat that month. How can you choose from these options?
The depression and anxiety didn’t happened overnight. It was a daily process of stress, worry and fear and because they got repeated everyday the brain got familiar with it.
Years later when I managed to make money to eat and pay the bills without choosing only one of them I couldn’t get the happiness that was once familiar and the depression was still there even though there was no reason for it.
I had to consciously repeat the state of happiness in order to replace the familiar depression from my brain.
Depression and anxiety got familiar unconsciously and consciously I have to replace them with a new, once familiar positive state.
It’s a daily work, but it’s doable to replace a negative familiar with a positive familiar.
Ally Fortis 