What lie do you live with?

On May 13th,2017 I attended a TEDx conference, held in Athens. I’ve always been obsessed with watching TED talks on Youtube in English, Spanish and Greek and thus I was ecstatic about going. For those who don’t know what TED is, it’s totally worth checking out. Basically, it’s a conference with multiple talks by people from all walks of life sharing a life experience that changed and challenged them, an interesting idea or something of their expertise worth speaking about.

 On the right of the stage there’s a girl translating what was being said in sign language.

The conference is an all-day event with music performances, breaks, food and workshops. All these vary in different countries. What was super interesting and unexpected was that the presenter was a deaf teacher presenting the speakers in sign language and there was always someone translating the talks in sign language live.

All the talks were stimulating and delightful but there was one particular that really fascinated me.  This woman talked about the lies we tell ourselves. We tell ourselves

we’re not good/smart/beautiful/funny/interesting and so on and by saying those things over and over again in our minds they get ingrained into our belief system and we act accordingly. She talked about how she lived her life being a people-pleaser and adapting to various situations in order to fit in and be liked. This got so bad that in the end she had lost her true self. But then, after hitting rock bottom and attending retreats in India, she discovered that she can radically change the way she thinks about herself.

The process is called neuroplasticity, which is the brain’s ability to change and adapt. Our brain can be thought as a sculpture, whose sculptor never finishes. When we learn something new, change a habit or say something different than usual we are changing the sculpture that is us. Scientists claim that we can consciously use this fact to our advantage to make our brains sharper and happier.

Now, this girl used this fact to change the lie she has been repeating to herself like a broken record.

 What lie is being repeated in your brain?

Instead of going down the usual path, “I’m not good enough”, she ventured to rewire her brain and think “I’m worthy of being accepted and loved as I am”. By intentionally repeating this motto day after day, night after night, and avoiding negative thoughts, she believed it and changed her way of thinking. No more trying to please others and disregarding her opinion. No more rejecting opportunities and living up to others’ expectations. She became a happier and an authentic being.

At the end of the talk she concluded with a question: What lie do you live with?

Challenge yourselves to think about the lies you tell yourselves and use neuroplasticity to change your brain and hence your life.

References

Neuroplasticity