Eight Ways to Rewire Negative Responses

I am often sad. I asked God why? He brought to my attention that my neurological pathways are wired for sad feelings. My family makes fun of me for my self-pity bouts. It makes sense that my brain is wired or programmed for sadness because I experienced a lot of rejection and trauma for many years of my life. Some people worry constantly, are angry, or complain all the time. When a negative emotion is persistent, it is because of the neurological programming or wiring of your brain. The good news is that we can rewire our brains due to neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity is the brain’s ability to change response pathways. You can rewire your brain for addictive issues as well.

I know that neuroplasticity is legitimate because I have experienced significant changes in my brain through healing bad memories and unhealthy beliefs.  I am still in the process of reprogramming automatic responses to stress. You can read about how to change your brain in my free book on my website. I also wrote “Breaking Mental Strongholds.” My strongholds are destroyed, and most of my bad memories are healed, but I still have some rewiring to do. Some people say reprogramming, but you get the idea.

Here are the steps I use to rewire my emotional responses.

1. Be aware of my emotions, even ambivalence.
2. Ask myself, “Why am I feeling this way?”
3. When in my past have I felt this feeling, and why?
4. Is the situation triggering a resentment or painful memory? If so, ask God to show me. Read my website book to learn how I resolve resentment and painful memories.
5. Am I disappointed? Why am I disappointed? What expectation was not met, even unspoken ones? Accept that I am not in control of how other people respond, but I can only control how I react and feel. To learn more, read How to Develop Emotional Resilience.
6. What unhealthy belief triggered this emotion? What is a healthy belief instead?
7. Have I given someone or a situation power to control my thoughts? Why?
8. What can I be thankful for?

Writing the answers to these questions is insightful, and they will help you train your brain to recognize and process negative emotions and remain in control. Though I tend to feel sad, I don’t need to let it control my thoughts. Changing my emotional response is improving as I change my thinking, which is a form of neuroplasticity. I am getting quicker at going through the eight steps when I experience a negative response.

Keep in mind that negative emotions increase the stress hormone cortisol, which triggers your body’s fight-or-flight response. I wrote about this in The Best Way to Manage Stress. When you think good or thankful thoughts, it triggers the feel-good neurotransmitter dopamine. The key is to recognize negative feelings and address them promptly, without ignoring them. Ignoring them does not change your ability to manage your emotions or stress in healthy way.

Here are several good articles. Rewiring the Traumatized Brain for Positivity

Discover evidence-based interventions to reduce chronic negative thinking. 

 From Triggered to Empowered: Rewiring Your Emotional Responses.

May God bless you as you grow a healthy response.

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My latest book is Unlocking God’s Promises, which explains 18 categories of promises that are relevant to each of our lives. It also includes the promises in Psalm 91.

If you find this website helpful, you would like to read Breaking Mental Strongholds, which expands on my website book and includes many of my posts.

Additionally, consider my book Fighting Unseen Battles, which describes the many unhealthy beliefs that control our lives and what the truths are. To learn more about this book, read the post How to Fight Unseen Battles. 

Contact me at hopeforcompletehealing@gmail.com and ask for a PDF of Eight Life-Changing Prayers from the Bible. The prayers are for the Spirit of wisdom, renewal, spiritual strength, knowledge of His will, virtues of God, non-believers, the 23rd Psalm, and victory. I will also send you the Lord’s Prayer Model to pray effectively. Please leave your name, so I know you are a real person making the request.