Why do we all eternally dissatisfied

Reality eludes us

We are awake for 16 hours a day, but the conduct in the present moment is much smaller. Most of the time we hang out in your mind, ignoring the world around them. Billy Pilgrim from Vonnegut's novel, we constantly travel back in time and fly away into the future.

In one study,The Brain's Default Network and its Adaptive Role in Internal Mentation was drawn diagram of thoughts that a person visit during the day. Almost half are memories and thoughts about the future.

All these abstractions capture us and make ignore the real world. Therein lies the problem of our ongoing discontent.

We are always listening to the inner voice. He can entertain pleasant memories or dreams, but more often causes stress and fear, invents imaginary danger. At the same time the only thing that really exists - it is the environment, and what it has to offer.

There is nothing but the present moment, and this moment displeases much rarer than their own thoughts. If you bring the idea to the end, it turns out that there is not even

of death. A distinguished philosopher of the XX century, Ludwig Wittgenstein thought that real, tangible death never happen in life, which means that many of our fears and worries, growing fear of death, unfounded.

Death is not an event of life. Death is not experienced. If by eternity is understood not endless temporal duration but timelessness, then eternal lives one who lives in the present.

Ludwig Wittgenstein, the philosopher

The only way to get out of the cycle of dissatisfaction - often off the inner voice, that he no longer bothered to perceive reality.

However, immersion in his own thoughts - is not an addiction, but a feature of the work of our brain.

Why do we dive thoughts

When a person takes an activated network passive mode of brain function (Default Mode Network, DMN). When we focus on something, this network activity is reduced, and when it loses focus - is increasing, and we float away from realities in thought.

Due to work DMN we rememberThe Brain's Default Network and its Adaptive Role in Internal Mentation events of the past and imagine what might happen in the future, Form the attitude toward themselves and explore their emotions. Due to the same system, we assume that thinking and feeling other people determine the validity of our actions, assess the social performance and the status of the group. All this is necessary for the person to live in society.

At the same time, excessive activity of DMN characteristic of depression. People with a depressive disorder job network is activatedDefault mode network in depression: A pathway to impaired affective cognition? and during the holidays, and during the execution of tasks. This reduces the activity of networks responsible for concentration.

active work is necessary suppression of DMNThe role of default network deactivation in cognition and disease. to perform the tasks, the feeling of well-being and tranquility. And you can do this by deliberately focusing on the external or internal objects.

How to be in the present

StudyMeditation leads to reduced default mode network activity beyond an active task It showed that reducing the activity of DMN helps meditation. And the effect is visible both during and after practice.

Moreover, since it improves meditationDynamical properties of BOLD activity from the ventral posteromedial cortex associated with meditation and attentional skills. attention and working memory, increasesEffects of mindfulness on psychological health: a review of empirical studies a sense of well-being and helps to fightMeditation programs for psychological stress and well-being: a systematic review and meta-analysis. with anxiety and depression, the researchers concluded that these effects are due to a decrease in the activity of DMN.

Optional start meditate classical way: sitting in silence, concentrating on emptiness in the head. Instead, you can focus on your life. And it will be an exciting adventure.

As soon as you turn off the internal chatterbox and immersed in the experience of the moment, you begin to notice a lot of new things: what an interesting timbre of voices your friend how best to lay down the dishes, so that it no longer fall out of the closet, a fabulous color of autumn leaves and how they contrast with sky. Most of your "hotelok" fall off by themselves, leaving only the necessary and important.

We have everything, what we really want. That's true, but only if we live in the present moment.

see also

• Stop live awaiting the right moment →
• Lag: how to live in moderation and enjoy it →
• Life in the flow: how to enjoy the work and activities of daily →