Happy Wednesday!
Have you ever found yourself dwelling on an insult or fixating on your mistakes? Criticisms often have a greater impact than compliments, and bad news frequently draws more attention than good. The reason for this is that negative events have a greater impact on our brains than positive ones. Psychologists refer to this as the negativity bias, and it can have a powerful effect on your behavior, your decisions, and even your relationships.
I came across this information as I was working on training materials for our training cycle that begins in January. Negativity bias is our tendency not only to register negative stimuli more readily but also to dwell on these events. It explains why we feel the sting of a rebuke more powerfully than we feel the joy of praise.
Our tendency to pay more attention to bad things and overlook good things is likely a result of history. Paying attention to bad, dangerous, and negative threats in the world was literally a matter of life and death. Those who were more attuned to danger and who paid more attention to the bad things around them were more likely to survive. This tendency to dwell on the negative more than the positive is simply one way the brain tries to keep us safe.
Knowing this, as Christians, should make us more aware of what we say, what we do and how we do it. Knowing that we have the tendency to focus on the negative should make us that much more positive. It should make us stop and think about how we respond to something negative. Is that one negative remark or action enough to destroy a friendship. Does it outweigh all of the good that was done before that? Awareness of our negativity bias can only make us better friends, family members and witnesses.
Ecclesiastes 3:12 says, “I know that there is nothing better for people than to be happy and to do good while they live.” So do good, be happy and beware for the human tendency to focus on the negative.
I missed you Sunday. Lee is still flat on his back, but he is getting better. Hope to see you Sunday!
Shine, Shine, Shine!
Tina