"Old Route 66"
Adapted by Cristina Broomfield, MA, LPC
from Meet Your Happy Chemicals
by Loretta Graziano Breuning, PhD
Can people really change behaviors? I searched Google and was surprised at all the articles, books, and even YouTube discussions on this question!
The old adage "people never change" was debated at every level. Many of the conversations were "politically correct", but deep down it seemed the message that most people believed was that people can't change their behaviors enough to make a significant difference. With all the conversations on this topic, I have not come across much about the focus of this article...how our brain chemistry impacts our behaviors!
Our belief system about the world we live in is greatly impacted by our neurochemicals...our brain chemistry. At infancy, our neurochemicals surge and we begin to feel connected with our environment. When something makes us feel good as an infant or child, our brain chemicals form a connection and create pathways. When something makes us feel bad, the same process takes place. Those pathways become the foundation of how we think about the world around us. Over time, these neural pathways develop into superhighways in our system of thinking...our values, our behaviors, our reactions to life. What we don't always understand is that those feelings driven by our brain chemistry (good and bad) have been etched out by our early experiences in life. It is a belief system that has emerged from real life experiences.
We built these pathways effortlessly when we were young. Building new pathways in adulthood is like trying to slash a new trail through dense rain forests! Every step is a huge effort and the trail seems to disappear behind us. It is easier to just jump on the nice superhighway that is nearby!
We CAN build new trails with new connections. It is harder than we expect, but easier when we know how to do so.
Several years back, my husband and I took a motorcycle trip across the country beginning in Los Angeles, California and ending in Troy, Michigan. Our goal was to travel on Old Route 66, stopping at all the great land marks that we had read about through the years. To our dismay, Old Route 66 was just that...old! The route was full of potholes (being from Michigan we maneuvered better than most). Route 66 took us to broken down deserted "landmarks", and in many cases, it just ended in the middle of nowhere because the road was unable to accommodate our ride. Thankfully, a new highway ran beside Old 66 with accessible on-ramps when we could no longer continue on the once "superhighway" that had connected villages, towns, and cities decades before.
We were thankful for this new highway that not only got us to our destination, but provided smooth sailing along the way.
Many of us are still traveling on Old Route 66 with all its potholes and dead-ends. Often, life continues to prove difficult and we feel defeated at every level. It is time to abandon Old 66 and build a new road! Our part is to choose to stop using the old roads that lead to our destruction and walk the direction of the heavy rain forest, building new pathways. Just as connections were formed early in our development, connections can form in adulthood.
While not easy to build new pathways in our thinking, it can be done. At Perspectives Counseling Centers, we offer help to those traveling on Old Route 66. In the hope of offering help to those who believe the old adage that "people never change"...we are here to affirm that, YES...CHANGE IS POSSIBLE!
Allow our professional staff to be part of the work crew needed to build your new highway that will not only get you to your destination, but provide smooth sailing along the way! Always remember, You Need Not Travel Alone.
