Our culture spends a lot of time living out a pursuit of happiness experiment. A lot of evidence suggest that for many, the experiment is failing.
In a lot of cases, it's failing miserably. Maybe it's time for a new experiment? The pursuit of living. In a recent podcast episode, Dr. Andrew Huberman talks about a region of the brain called the anterior midcingulate cortex (aMCC). Huberman focused on scientific data suggesting that when we do things we don't want to do, this region of the brain grows. He goes on to talk about the discovery that this region of the brain is larger in people who see their lives as challenged but then overcome them. And with great enthusiasm he tells us, the aMCC is larger in people who live a very long time. Huberman calls this one of the greatest neuroscience findings ever. He says the research suggests the aMCC is not the seat of human willpower, but more, it's the seat of the will to live. The conversation was especially timely and powerful for me. There are several things I've given up this year, things that used to bring me happiness, yet in doing so have caused increasing havoc in my life. Huberman points out that NOT doing things we want to do but feel like we shouldn't is equal to doing things we don't want to do. I do a lot of work in resilience. I also consider myself hyper-resilient. Most of my life has been spent fighting to overcome challenges. Challenges I've created for myself, others life created for me. But it seems the sum of that battle has been increasing the size of my brain that has, until now, unknowingly increased my will to live. It's this will that scientists are beginning to believe helps regulate our emotional response to stressors, and contributes to coping mechanisms that keep us moving forward. That keep us living. I often reflect on times in my life when I didn't want to be alive. There are times I wonder how on earth AM I still alive? This podcast conversation went a long way to helping me understand the answer to that. Because day in and day out, I often got up and did things I really didn't feel like doing. I have a long way to go, but how hopeful is it to know that it's our will to live that might contribute to living a long life more than anything else - including happiness. How encouraging is it to know that when I go take that long run after work that I have NO interest in doing, the impacts of that may go well beyond the cardio workout? How encouraging is it to know that when I write on a particular morning when I DO NOT feel like writing, I am doing more than pouring life into the world, I'm literally building life into me? How encouraging is it to know that when I'm not happy, when I'm depressed and feel like doing nothing, just doing something is building longevity into my life. And you know, for many, I SURE know it's true of me, the more you come to know that life will keep showing up for you as long as you keep growing your will to show up for it, happiness follows right behind. Maybe you won't suddenly go out in the world today hunting down things you don't want to do. Even though the science is beginning to suggest that would be a really good idea. But many of us don't have to hunt. There will be things on our plate today we don't want to do, but will. I hope it's helpful to know that doing those things is growing a very important part of your brain. The part that many are coming to believe is the seat of your will to live. Add a few things to your life this year that you don't want to do. Then do them, and keep growing that will to live.
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Robert "Keith" CartwrightI am a friend of God, a dad, a runner who never wins, but is always searching for beauty in the race. Archives
May 2024
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