Sweet Sweet Chain, Part 4: So...What's the Verdict? Can we Evolve?

And so going back to that original question from part one: what is that menacing force that sucks us into doing or feeling what we have decided time and again we don’t want to do or feel? Have we any agency over our own brains and bodies? One answer is: no, we have no agency. Our brain chemistry, our genetic makeup, our experiences in our families, our experiences in our societies, all of these are elements outside of our control that have been passed down to us from our ancestors through the multigenerational transmission process, whether we want them or not, and these are what essentially determine our thoughts, feelings, and behavior patterns.  

Well that’s depressing. 

I don’t want to believe in that. Because if that were true, if we really did not have any agency over our actions, then why try to do anything? What’s the point of being in a helping profession if I can’t help my clients actualize change since they have no control as it is? Where is our hope as human beings if we can’t effectively better ourselves? 

There is another question that is important to ask here and that is: can we evolve?

Can we, you and I, right here and now living in the twenty first century be the link in the evolution process that makes positive changes in our brain chemistry and DNA to pass down to future generations? CAN WE BE THE REDEMPTION OF OUR SPECIES?

The voice of realism chuckles in response and says, “relax, take it down a notch. We are up against our DNA and brain chemistry. We probably won’t be able to change enough to be the redemption of our species.” While that might be true, it is also true that if we try our best to understand the forces at play and the tools at our disposal and do this very challenging work of trying to change for the better, we can start the process of evolution for our children and our children’s children to continue. 

Dear Reader, would you like to join me in trying to evolve? If so first, before anything, recognize how hard this will be. Recognize that you are up against forces that feel outside of your control because they literally live in your genetic makeup! And, I hope you’re paying attention because this part is important, be compassionate with yourself throughout this process, because, at times it will feel like you have moved two steps forward and one hundred steps back. But those two steps, man. Those two incredible, fierce, magnificent steps forward are proof of the courageous, empowered creature that you are. Those two steps matter more than you might know, because those two steps forward are actually working to change your brain chemistry.

Professor of psychiatry, Dan Siegal (2010) explains that neuroplasticity means our brains are constantly changing in response to new experiences. Every time you take two steps forward you are reinforcing neural networks in the brain that are interrelated with the way habits are created.

A neural network in the brain is like as a pathway in the wild wilderness. The first time you walk down the pathway, the grass and shrubs are unkempt so it is challenging to move. However, each time you walk on the same unkempt path, it becomes more and more groomed and easier to take. Similarly, every time you consciously think or behave in a healthier manner you reinforce a neural network in your brain so the next time it will become easier to make the healthier choice.

Making conscious choices to think and react differently to our triggers is really hard to do. Really hard. At first it feels impossible, and we just don’t do them. In the beginning, even just pausing and thinking for a minute before engaging in the unhealthy habit is a form of progress. That being said, the more we succeed in taking those pauses, in forcing ourselves to take two steps forward, the more we engage in the more desirable thought, emotion, behavior- the more we consciously impact the manner in which our brains develop.

We can consciously create experiences that reinforce newer, healthier, and more humane ways of thinking, feeling, and behaving. We can, with hard work, conscious intention, and self-compassion change our brain chemistries, create new habits, and start the process of evolution, not just for ourselves, but also for future generations.