Have you ever felt like you could remember how a certain event in your past made you feel, without remembering the exact details of the event?
After a few years of being a ‘sane human being’, I sometimes wonder how on earth do I still struggle with the thoughts of my past. My past was not that ‘bad’, to be honest. I wasn’t a prostitute and I thankfully have never been abused or anything like that. But from time to time, I find myself having flashbacks about the many things that might not appeal to me anymore, but used to feel so good in my younger years.

I call them my toxic thoughts. It’s like there are a million little bridges in my brain that connect me to them.

But I know I am not alone. We all have those bridges that connect our experiences, feelings, thoughts, and emotions to each other. Some are good, some are toxic. That’s why we have our good and bad habits, right? In fact I think, habits are formed by these bridges! You go over the bridge everytime you think of that one thing that you want to get/feel/achieve on the other side of the bridge. Maybe this is how an addiction develops as well.

I’m no expert in neuroscience and brains, but I was blown away when I heard a cognitive neuroscientist, Dr. Caroline Leaf spoke about these bridges last year at a service I attended. The scientists call them ‘neural pathways’.

You know what’s cool, though? You can change them. You can alter their directions to everything good, true, and lovely instead of those toxic, destructive, stupid things.

So here’s what I’m trying to say. I want to set my toxic bridges on fire.

I know it’s gonna take time, but I hope to get rid of these million bad bridges as I grow daily. And hopefully, I can build the new, good ones in the process.

I hope you’re ready to burn yours too.

*photo by Ana Gabriel & Muhammed Fayiz