When our brain hijacks our life : A story of two friends
Two friends are driving to a bank appointment, Albert and John. It is a hot summer day, and the air-conditioner is blasting fresh air into their flushed, sweaty faces.
After numerous attempts, Albert managed to find a parking spot near the bank's main entrance.
He automatically, and out of habit, turned off the engine, left the key in the ignition since John remained in the car, and headed towards the bank.
Albert furtively disappeared inside the building, and as time went by, the temperature started rising inside the car.
As sweat dripped down John's back, he started cursing the situation, wondering why Albert left him in the car, suffering from the heat with the air-conditioner turned off.
Images of Albert laughing at him while walking the cool corridors of the bank, made him even angrier.
"Why did he do this to me, I have always been a good friend," he angrily thought.
After twenty minutes of fuming over the situation, Albert came back, and as soon as he opened the door, he was assaulted by John's bitter, and loud complaints about how he left him suffering in the heat inside the car.
Albert, in his confusion as to why John was reacting the way he was, listened patiently, then he calmly said, "You could have rolled down the window or turned the air-conditioner on, I left the keys in the ignition".
Sometimes our emotions get the best of us, they bypass our logical thinking, and all the meditation, and mindfulness training that we might have had.
We think that we are prepared for these kinds of situations, and we scoff at their absurdity, thinking that it always happens to the unprepared, quick-tempered among us.
When a “brain hijack” occurs, we go into a trance, where we are led solely by our ego, our anger and our unrestrained, wild, unchecked emotions.
We usually feel a sense of regret, even shame after we calm down, and our rage subsides.
Our ego keeps us from recognizing that our reaction was completely disproportionate to the situation at hand.
We try to justify our behavior by blaming others, or by making random occurrences and events the scapegoat of the day.
When we are angry, there is a point beyond which, it is hard, even impossible to go back to a calmer, quieter state.
Our thinking system shuts down, and we give free reign to our feelings, usually the negative ones, regardless of the consequences.
Towards the end of our fit, we get a strange feeling, that we are re-entering our bodies, we feel the rush, savor it, then we start to relax. Throughout the recovery, our body starts regulating its hormones back to their normal state, and the same brain that egged us on, starts berating us for our irresponsible behavior.
As sweat dripped down John's back, he started cursing the situation, wondering why Albert left him in the car, suffering from the heat with the air-conditioner turned off.
Images of Albert laughing at him while walking the cool corridors of the bank, made him even angrier.
"Why did he do this to me, I have always been a good friend," he angrily thought.
After twenty minutes of fuming over the situation, Albert came back, and as soon as he opened the door, he was assaulted by John's bitter, and loud complaints about how he left him suffering in the heat inside the car.
Albert, in his confusion as to why John was reacting the way he was, listened patiently, then he calmly said, "You could have rolled down the window or turned the air-conditioner on, I left the keys in the ignition".
Sometimes our emotions get the best of us, they bypass our logical thinking, and all the meditation, and mindfulness training that we might have had.
We think that we are prepared for these kinds of situations, and we scoff at their absurdity, thinking that it always happens to the unprepared, quick-tempered among us.
When a “brain hijack” occurs, we go into a trance, where we are led solely by our ego, our anger and our unrestrained, wild, unchecked emotions.
We usually feel a sense of regret, even shame after we calm down, and our rage subsides.
Our ego keeps us from recognizing that our reaction was completely disproportionate to the situation at hand.
We try to justify our behavior by blaming others, or by making random occurrences and events the scapegoat of the day.
When we are angry, there is a point beyond which, it is hard, even impossible to go back to a calmer, quieter state.
Our thinking system shuts down, and we give free reign to our feelings, usually the negative ones, regardless of the consequences.
Towards the end of our fit, we get a strange feeling, that we are re-entering our bodies, we feel the rush, savor it, then we start to relax. Throughout the recovery, our body starts regulating its hormones back to their normal state, and the same brain that egged us on, starts berating us for our irresponsible behavior.
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