In some strange way, suffering when things are hard can paradoxically seem easier and feel like exactly the right thing to do, even when it takes you further away from what you really want deep down, which is simply to be happy. 💭

The reason is largely biological since noticing things that are out of the ordinary, unexpected, and potentially harmful is absolutely necessary to your survival. In fact, the human brain has a built-in negativity bias 🧠 which causes us to pay more attention to what our subconscious flags as negative or potentially dangerous than to positive or neutral events, which aren’t perceived as a threat to our survival.

Everything we experience through our senses serves as a stimulus to our human organism, including our proprioceptive sense (body awareness), which allows us to feel things happening within us and gives us information about our movements and position in space. ✨

When something happens to trigger a fear response in you, your autonomic nervous system goes into high arousal. This reaction prepares your system to respond by getting ready to fight an enemy, flee from danger, or freeze like an animal playing dead. ⚡

(“Maybe if I don’t move or breathe, that lion won’t see me and I’ll soon be safe, once he’s gone!”)

There is also a less commonly known fourth possible reaction seen primarily in females, which is the psychological instinct to “fawn” (submit) or “tend-and-befriend,” which elicits behavior to protect the self and offspring, and to seek connection and support from community. 🤝

For example, a physically weaker animal, meeting a larger animal, if it is not bent on food, may know that its only chance for survival is to adopt an attitude of submission to the stronger animal by accepting its dominance and showing that it doesn’t pose a threat.

As a result, possibly the stronger animal will decide to pass the weaker one by—again, if it is not hunting for food—leaving it and its offspring in peace. 🐾 If you’ve ever seen a tiny dachshund crouch low to the ground, lying with front paws out, as a strange German shepherd charges toward it, this is the underlying instinct. And it works.

I'd love to hear your thoughts. Care to share?

With Love & Light,
Jennifer ❤️

The above is an excerpt from ‘Make Great Music with Ease! The Secret to Smarter Practice, Confident Performance, and Living a Happier Life'

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