What are you thinking about in 2019?
It’s that time of the year again. Did you make your New Year’s Resolutions? Are you hoping to lose some weight, get to the gym, learn to meditate? Are you eager to let go of the challenges of 2018? Is that even possible?
Over the holidays, I took two weeks off from work. I walked outdoors, read some fiction, enjoyed the company of family and friends, played with my granddaughter and ate three meals a day off a plate while seated (apparently, eating a handful of almonds in the car while zipping from here to there doesn’t count!). I even breathed…slowly and on purpose.
via GIPHY
Here’s some of what I learned:
- Slowing down is beneficial to your health, both mentally and physically.
- What we focus on matters and creates more of what we long for.
- Laughter heals pain and sadness.
- Self care makes us better and more available to our loved ones.
- You really can lose weight by eating more!
My New Year’s Resolution is to try to remember some of these learnings as I move forward into 2019.
These points aren’t exactly new learnings. Rather, these are re-learnings, things I knew but was reminded of. Definitely something worth keeping in mind. Without a conscious effort to stay mindful, it’s easy to forget.
I imagine that it’s not entirely possible to leave behind the stress of last year. We still live in a country politically divided, there are still hungry children in the world, our government is currently on shut down, there are fires raging and earthquakes happening and turtles are still getting straws stuck in their noses from our careless polluting of their ocean homes.
In addition to our global concerns we all have our personal ones–health, family, finances and career. Life’s circumstances don’t just miraculously shift because we’ve flipped the calendar over. But is it really as bad as all that? Can changing the way we think about things make a difference in the way that we feel? I know that it matters for me.
The Availability Bias
In December, I had the privilege of attending a lecture by an Astrophotographer by the name of Tim Lewis. Tim’s photography of the Universe was gorgeous and truly breathtaking. I expected that from an Astrophotographer. What I didn’t count on was the power of his lecture.
Tim introduced me to the concept of the brain’s Availability Bias. According to my online dictionary, the availability bias is the human tendency to think that examples of things that come readily to mind are more representative than is actually the case. For example, you hear about a tsunami in Asia and you start thinking that another one is very likely. Statistically, another one is not very likely, but our brains start worrying anyway.
I started thinking that this bias has implications for our sustained levels of stress and inability to find peace, joy and happiness. With the advent of the Internet, we are constantly bombarded with news and social media reports. Most of the bad news is sensationalized and frequently repeated. Our brains start expecting disaster and heartbreak. Our bodies release the stress hormone, cortisol, as we brace for the inevitable.
Empathic Problem Solver
To address this phenomenon, give us hope, and set the record straight, Tim had a particularly compelling slide in his power point. He talks about man as empathic problem solvers. He points out some of what’s improving in the world because of our ability to think about problems, find solutions and create change. For example:
- Due to advances in medical science our average life expectancy today is over 72 years (up from 30 in 1860)
- Infant Mortality up to age 5 is down to less than 1% today compared to 20-50% in the 1800s
- People living in extreme poverty today is less than 10% compared to 90% in the 1800s
- Two-thirds of the World’s Population live in Democracies with relative freedom
- 90% of the World’s Population can read and write
Generally, it’s a good idea to focus on what’s going right. I don’t mean that we have to deny what’s problematic, only that we make room for thinking about positive events, as well.
In 2019, I hope that you will examine your own Availability Bias. I advise you to keep a Gratitude List where you consciously get in touch with the many blessings of your life. Perhaps the only real New Year’s Resolution we need is to occasionally slow down, to stay awake, and to enjoy what life has to offer.
Happy New Year to you and your loved ones.