You Can’t Brainwash Me! Get Emotional About it and I Will.
How can I brainwash you? Simply put, “I prey on your emotions.”
How you brainwash yourself
Have you ever said, “I will never love again”? You made this declaration when experiencing intense emotion, your heart ached, and you might have felt betrayed, hurt, or sad. When you declare something in the height of emotion, you program your brain. When you feel neutral, your declarations do not carry the same power. Think back to a time in your life when you made a declaration that impacted the way you acted. Were you in an elevated emotional state? Happy, sad, mad? I thought so.
How others brainwash us
Let’s examine commercials. First, they elicit emotion, and once they have made you feel something, they drive home the advertising.
Think of a beautiful beach scene. You see the edges of two people in lounge chairs, white sand, and the most beautiful blue green ocean in the distance. You also hear a seagull and waves crashing on the beach. Now they’ve set you up, you are imagining yourself relaxing on a beach, and you feel happy. Then BOOM they ambush you and drop that bucket of Corona right in between the lounge chairs.
What about the cute old couple doing housework? You see the old man stabilizing his wife as she attempts to dust the top of a hutch, and you think it is adorable that he his helping, but you also fear that she will fall. This commercial elicits feel good emotions and fear, two powerful feelings. The doorbell rings, and it is a box of Swiffer products. Next, you see the wife wielding an extended handle Swiffer, and she dusts the hutch safely. The emotion is conjured, the product is dropped, and the programming is complete.
Wait there’s more
Pretend I am a union rep, politician, mother, teacher, or cult leader. I give a speech about people working for less money and taking your job. I rile you up, and make you angry. Once in that heightened state of emotion, I tell you something ridiculous like: this happens because kangaroos live in zoos. If the emotion is strong, and the story is repeated over and over you will start to believe the kangaroo story.
This is bad. But what happens if you are triggered–an unresolved, emotional wound button pushed? For instance, the people in charge fired you or someone you love, and they gave that job to someone who works for less money. This led your family down a path of destruction, abuse, homelessness, and maybe someone committed suicide. This still hurts–a lot. When triggered, you are ripe for a good brainwash. The kangaroo story embeds itself into your brain and becomes your truth. Unresolved emotions intensify emotional reactions–the stronger the emotional response, the easier the brainwash.
How do you protect yourself from this programming?
First, bring awareness to your state of being when you make decisions or choose to believe new things. Determine whether these decisions or beliefs were made in a heightened emotional state. Evaluate from a place of neutrality whether or not it is the right decision or belief for you. Ask yourself questions like: If I did not feel emotional about this, would it still be what I want? Did I let my emotions get the better of me? Am I looking for someone or something to blame? Is it in alignment with the whole of me, or only the part that feels emotional about it?
Second, work on resolving your emotional triggers and wounds. It is difficult for people to program you when you are not triggered. You are able to see things more clearly, and make decisions that align fully with your values. If you would like to have a conversation about clearing your triggers contact me.
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