Your Reticular Activating System and You

One thing that we can all agree on is that the brain is an incredible thing. One of the most incredible parts of your brain is a small piece known as the Reticular Activating System and this little thing that's about the size of the tip of your pinky can actually have a huge effect on your life in general.

At any moment in time your brain is bombarded with many millions of bits of sensory information from the world around you. Sights, sounds, smells, tastes and feelings are constantly being downloaded into your system and your brain needs a way to filter that information. Well in a brilliant bit of either creative thinking or evolution, depending on your beliefs, that's where the RAS came into being.

The Reticular Activating System sits in your brain and acts something like a tiny customizable filter, or for the sake of metaphor a bouncer at the door of your brain. Your beliefs tell the RAS what is and is not important, basically making a list of all the information invited to the party, and your RAS then acts like the bouncer letting whoever is on the list in and kicking the rest to the curb. Of those millions of bits of information mentioned earlier your RAS only lets in about 130 per second in your conscious mind because that's about all your nervous system can handle at one time, and the bits you let in are the ones that you have deemed over the years to be important enough.

This is where the relationship between you and your RAS becomes either a beautiful or a terrible thing, and it all comes down to your core beliefs. If say, you believe that you only ever meet "mean" people, then over the years your RAS has been programmed only to notice mean people, the nice people you've been bumping into or sitting next to in a coffee shop or maybe even that you've been introduced to have all been glazed over in order to maintain your own personal status quo. Now you may already be seeing how you can turn this around and start to make your life a more positive experience, but first you have to understand that this system is in fact a useful tool in another way.

Back in the day when leaving your home was a much more perilous journey and you were likely to get eaten by most of the things you ran into the RAS was the brains way of avoiding those risks. A level of risk was set as acceptable and every time you stepped over that line your RAS would start reeling you back in, moving you back towards your status quo by giving you that uncomfortable feeling that tells you you've exited your comfort zone. The problem is that in todays world you're not likely to get eaten by anything or anyone, Hannibal Lecter aside, and so your RAS has turned into a risk killer and a belief machine. If you don't do something about it then it makes sure that your beliefs come true and your risks do not, no matter how positive the reward may be.

This is where the work comes in and the awesome results follow. Over 30 days, if you stop and visualize yourself taking that risk, or affirm a new belief such as "the world is full of amazing and incredible people", slowly but surely you'll mold your filter so that you start letting in the types of things you want to let in. We all know that no matter your beliefs, especially where they deal with other people, there are plenty of things to prove you right and wrong out there in the world. If you believe people are jerks there will be plenty of people around that can prove you right, if you believe people are great, there are just as many people out there waiting to prove that belief right. In the end it's about what belief you choose to embrace and impress upon your subconscious.

The question now becomes why not be the best person you can be, and believe the best  possible things about the world you live in? It's things like the existence of the RAS that makes positive thinking more than just a good exercise that releases endorphins. It's the reason you can walk right by an opportunity if you don't believe it will happen and it's also the reason why there are stories of natives literally not seeing conquering ships approaching from a distance because they didn't believe in the existence or the possibility of ships that big. How many great opportunities, great people and great experiences are you willing to overlook before you begin to do something about it? Taking action today by affirming, feeling and visualizing life as you want to live it can rewire your brain and very scientifically take you head first into the life of your dreams. It's all up to you!

You've just learned the role your RAS plays in determining your success and the importance of molding your beliefs for success. Find all the resources you need to manifest the life of your dreams in record time and pick up a FREE copy of Wallace D. Wattles' classic "The Science of Getting Rich" by visiting <a onClick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/article_exit_link');" href="http://www.visionskape.com">http://www.visionskape.com</a> - the most trusted law of attraction review site on the internet.