Anxiety is a big umbrella word we throw around a lot, and it can mean a variety of things. It can evidence itself as overwhelming apprehension, fear, worry, and helplessness. That feeling can be crippling for us.

It can be very easy to spot negative areas in our life. Oftentimes we only remember to be thankful during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. But showing gratitude needs to be a year-round practice. Because it actually affects our brains a lot more than we realize. Gratitude not only impacts our moods and outlook on life, but it also has scientific backing on its ability to benefit our physical, mental, and emotional health.

The more we try and numb the pain, the less we become keyed into our emotions, thoughts, and behaviors. Our bodies are always naturally searching for a balance between pain and pleasure. So the buzz we feel from alcohol is balanced with the hangover we suffer later. The dopamine rush from social media or gaming is balanced with the low that follows and the desire for more.

According to experts, these are the most often used words to describe how we feel. We use words like happy as an umbrella term for any positive feeling and sad or angry for literally anything negative. But what about more descriptive terms like courageous, hopeful, or inspired? Or empty, abandoned, and inferior? 

How do we turn the negative voice down? How do we dial back the harmful noise, self-condemnation, self-doubt, and counter-productive attitude we constantly listen to? Thanks to our relatively new understanding of neuroplasticity, we now know that we actively and successfully change how we think. 

We have every intention of maintaining the resolutions or goals. We want to eat better, work less, socialize more, and exercise daily. But the minute life returns to normal, we fall right back into the same habits.