The Language of Limbic.
What are you feeling right now? Please understand that I’m not asking ‘how’ you feel right now, because that’s just an amalgamation of everything that you are feeling. No, I’m asking you to break down what you feel into its component emotions, so that you can try to understand what’s running in the background of your mind.
It’s kind of a difficult concept to manage but once you get used to it, you can find all sorts of thing happening deep in your soul.
Should I go first?
Right now, I’m running a combination of fear, frustration, determination, hope and a sense of shame. Let me go a little further, so you can see how this all fits together.
The shame comes from the feeling that I have failed so far in the pursuit of who I think I can be.
The fear is that I will never achieve what I want to achieve, and the frustration comes because I believe I have the capability to do what I want, yet I have not been able to find the way to manifest it.
The determination comes from the strengths I have gained in my struggle thus far in life, and the hope is that I can make it all work somehow.
So why is this important? Because when I identify and acknowledge the background language of my mind, I can understand how it affects me.
The Limbic system is the part of our brain that works not in language, but in feelings. Although the higher parts of our brain construct our reality in language, the Limbic system is deeper, darker, and can exert a level of control on our actions that is so subtle that we totally miss it unless we pay close attention.
Because these underlying emotions that are prevalent in my mind can color everything in my life that I experience, if I let them.
Left uncorrected, they can destroy my relationships, sabotage my business, undermine my confidence and defeat my best efforts before I even get started.
So in order to control them, I first have to speak their language, the language of Limbic.
That way, when my brain starts telling me that I am not good enough, I can understand that my Limbic system is speaking a language of shame. When it tells me I can’t do something, or that my attempt will end in failure, I can understand that my Limbic system is speaking a language of fear.
When I get caught in the loop of an internal dialogue that shows me my capacities and the imbalance of my achievements, I can understand that my Limbic system is expressing frustration.
And when I understand it, I can talk myself out of it.
I don’t want you to think it’s easy, because it’s not. The Limbic language is pervasive, pernicious and relentless.
But I can tell you from personal experience that you can teach your Limbic system a different language over time, one that uplifts you, encourages you and empowers you.
Then the shadows flee from your soul, and a new you can appear.
— Dr. Alan Barnes
@maddrbmusings