Habitual Pain

We allow our pain to become habitual, which is why it is so difficult to get out of a negative mindset. We do this because everything we do is based on our habitual thoughts. Every time you learn something new a neurological connection is formed. What that means is we create a shortcut to that information. We do that so the next time something related to that 'thing' we learned comes up, our subconscious mind uses that shortcut, instead of needing to relearn it. Every time we use that shortcut, the connection becomes stronger and reinforced. This reinforcement then forms a belief that doing “A” results in “B”. We then, create habits around the belief. For example, you are instructed to wear a seatbelt because you could die without it. Next time you see a seatbelt you may consciously think "oh yeah, I need to wear that because it keeps me safe." After a few times of seeing the seatbelt you no longer consciously think about why you need to wear it, you just automatically put it on, because you believe that it will protect and is necessary to wear. That is how a habit is formed. I define a habit as subconsciously acting based on the things believed to be true. We have habits in everything we do. We have them with the things we decide, do, say and the things we think. People don't usually associate habits with things we think, but it is important to acknowledge. What we do and say are based on the habits of what we think, consciously and subconsciously. We have a habit of talking to ourselves and that reinforces the belief every time. Think about affirmations. They are intended to be repetitious positive statements because they need to be reinforced to solidify the belief. Now, think about all the negative things you say to yourself every single day. Think about every time you doubt your ability to do something. Each of those are beliefs as well. They also are getting reinforced over and over again. That is why it is so hard to get out of our negative mindset and to move on from pain. A negative situation causes a negative thought. Rumination over that thought turns the thought into a belief. Once it is a belief we build habits around that belief. The more habits we build around it, the deeper the belief gets rooted. For example, after a breakup you ruminate on every little thing that is wrong with you which could have caused the breakup. Then we start to validate those beliefs by creating habits. A more specific example; a girl thinks her boyfriend broke up with her because someone else is better looking. Now, she ruminates on whether she is ugly. She starts to subtly believe that she is ugly so then she stops taking care of herself. She stops putting makeup on, dressing up nice, doing her hair. Now she feels looks even uglier so the belief gets solidified. So, then, she may stop showering as much, and start to get acne, and so on. She has started to build habits around that one thought that has now changed her life. Get out of the cycle of habitual negative thoughts and pain. Challenge those thoughts when they come up. Don't let negative thoughts become beliefs.