The 3 Words You Shouldn’t Say Right Now
How to avoid a slippery mental slope in quarantine
“What’s the point in showering or getting dressed? Why should I bother shaving or putting on makeup? Does it even matter whether or not I eat well, or exercise, or stick to a sleeping schedule?”
This type of inner dialogue is common right now, and I understand the sentiment. But if it sounds familiar to you, be careful.
Why? Because these foundational actions prime you for the day ahead: for how you feel, how you think, and all of your further actions. And when you let your foundation slide, it’s easy to drag your whole self down with it.
‘I’m happy because I’m singing’
Do our actions determine how we feel? Or do our feelings determine how we act?
I used to believe it was the latter. But during my doctoral studies in neuroscience, I came across something that changed my mind: a psychological theory of emotion.
William James, one of the greatest psychologists of our time, proposed that emotions are caused by our reactions to external events. The best way I’ve seen this theory depicted is in a cartoon showing a little bird singing in a tree. A man standing underneath the tree looks up at the bird and says, “You must be…
