People often joke with me that I am abnormally optimistic. I respond with it is in my genes. I am not kidding. I control this. Happiness is not built from outward influence or success- happiness is created within you. You can create a genetic code for optimism, for a happy life with your thoughts. It’s not crazy, here is the science...
Our frontal lobes are really cool. Not just because you can control your own thoughts, but you can also observe your own thought. Right now- you can practice this. Take a stance on something and now change your perspective, now change it again. You’re in control.
Okay so now how can this power of thought change your genetics?
Signals + proteins = behavior
Think inwardly- A signal (from your environment, what you eat, a genetic predisposition, a THOUGHT) is sent to the cell nucleus and then enters the chromosome where your genes are. DNA that is normally zipped up & dormant gets unzipped.
Once unzipped the genetic code can be read to build a protein- RNA which copies the code.
YOU unzipped the DNA and YOU copied the code. You made the blueprint. That is the blueprint that makes up your physiology and anatomy- the proteins -> reaction & behavior as you react based on what’s happening in the present moment and from your memory. Every second you can be changing your genes by how you think and act- making new memories that shape your life experience.
Your THOUGHTS produce the chain reaction in your DNA. A toxic thought will produce a different protein blueprint than an optimistic thought. This can be applied to other cells too- muscles cells, nerve, liver etc. but that is a convo for another day.
I never want to come off as making light of disease, mental illness and so on but I have 0 tolerance for people who think they are genetically doomed. You’re not. I want you to open your eyes to being in more control of your body and mind- your experience in this life than you may originally think.
Further Reading:
Ironson, G. et al. (2006). An Increase in Religiousness/Spirituality Occurs after HIV Diagnosis and Predicts Slower Disease Progression over Four Years in People with HIV," Journal of General Internal Medicine 21, 62-68.
Mayberg, H. S. (2007)."Defining the Neural Circuitry of Depression: Toward a New Nosology with Therapeutic Implications," Biological Psychiatry 61(6), 729-30.
Richardson, K. (2000). The Making of Intelligence (New York: Colombia University Press).
Sakamoto, K., Karelina, K., & Obrietan, K. (2011). CREB: a multifaceted regulator of neuronal plasticity and protection. Journal of neurochemistry, 116(1), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1471-4159.2010.07080.x
Wang, H et al. (2018). Response Element-Binding Protein (CREB): A Possible Signaling Molecule Link in the Pathophysiology of Schizophrenia, Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience 11, https://doi.org/10.3389/fnmol.2018.00255
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