I'm rubber and you're glue

biases cognitive distortions negativity bias neuroplasticity reverseengineering the brain Apr 16, 2023

"I'm rubber and you're glue. What you say bounces off me and sticks to you."

At some point growing up, I learned this as a comeback when another kid said something  mean.
Then probably came, “I know you are, but what am I?”

So yeah—I guess I learned coping strategies and assertiveness from Pee Wee Herman. (Ah….Explains so much.)

The rubber/glue thing comes back to me now when I think about our brains.

Our brains become like rubber for positive, uplifting, and joyful experiences.
And like glue for negative, hurtful, and harder experiences.

The glue has them stick to us, replaying events over and over.
They can root down and become a part of our subconscious programming and live in our energy and physical body.

The glue creates a bias where we continue to collect negative experiences that are similar.
Suddenly our brain becomes a Lisa Frank sticker book with pages of similar content…except not full of pleasant things but rather Garbage Pail Kids-like stickers. Some are pages of experiences, years of life, situations, people, groups of people, foods, etc.

The pages are never ending and the more negative things we collect and glue in the pages, the less capacity and room we have for Rainbow Bright or the Care Bears. (Yes. I’m a child of the 80’s.)

We no longer resonate with those things.

We think those experiences and thought pattern stickers are who we are and continue to look through the pages.

We forget that they are simply a collection of experiences that our biology held on to because it was trying to keep us safe from harm or to make sense of the world.

We can choose to move beyond the brain’s natural tendencies and awaken to a new way of living. We do this by first becoming conscious of all of the ways in which we live unconsciously. We find ways to become fully present in our day. We get curious and ask ourselves, “Is what I’m thinking or doing aligned with who I want to be?”

It’s a constant exploration of getting to know ourselves without judgment and with appreciation for these incredible brains and bodies.

But then taking the next step and saying, “We can do better. It’s time to thrive.”

We find intentional moments to feel gratitude, connect deeply with others, laugh, and enjoy the richness of this earthly gift.

We start a new sticker book reverse engineering the mind to become glue to the good.

Authors

Brian & Alecia

Founders of Breathe and Believe

Brian and Alecia are breathwork and mindset coaches. We help people reach their physical, mental and spiritual goals through the powers of breathwork and expanding awareness.

Become A Certified Breathwork Coach

We teach true transformation. By focusing on the underlying cause of our human challenges you'll learn how to apply breathwork & mindset to the variety of symptoms that hold us back from achieving our greatest human potential.

This first starts with you... an essential element of this life-changing program is your own personal growth. We will walk you through the process, make sure you're ready & provide you the confidence to bring these same skills to other peoples lives.

Learn More

The Meditative Mind: 21-Day Breathwork, Meditation & Mindset Online Course

Learn how to become the alchemist of your life and turn your challenges into opportunities to grow.

What you'll get:

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Life is short. We are here to grow, explore, and enjoy this earth. In order to do that, we first must release the things holding us back.

Turn your difficulties into gold!

I'm rubber and you're glue