Remember the glimmers.
As humans, our brains are wired to scan for the negative. Out of a 100 beautiful memories, we will remember the 1 bad one. This is called the negativity bias. We are hardwired to not only register the negative stimuli in our environment, but to dwell on them.
This isn’t such a bad thing — It keeps us protected. Our brains are wired to scan for threats. If there is a tiger in our environment, our brains will register it quickly and kick in fight or flight. We will then remember the threat that appeared to avoid that danger in the future. They are here to keep us safe. They’re not there, however, to keep us happy.
To remember the beauty is a conscious decision. You will forget. You will remember the one bad thing that happened and hold it up in your mind as the only thing that is true. Yet, there was so much more to the picture.
Every day, we experience so much beauty that we forget. It is our jobs to learn how to remember. To pay closer attention. To stay present and let the beauty seep into you. To look back on it with fondness rather than with dread.
It is easy to fall into the fear spiral. Our minds will replay every negative or embarrassing or hurtful thing that has ever happened to you over and over again. It can cloud you to the point that you think there is nothing else.
In these moments especially, it is important to remember the glimmers. The glimmers are all the moments of lightness sprinkled throughout your day. They’re the pink flowers you found on your walk. They’re the call shared with a friend. They’re the stranger that spontaneously sparked up a conversation.
These glimmers happen every day; it is up to us to notice them. And the funny thing about glimmers is this: the more you look for them, the more they find you. The more you remember them, the more they remember you.
So next time your brain falls into a loop of chaos and hurt, look for the glimmers. I promise they’re there. They’ll hold your hand through the storm.
