CHAPTER 1
What's that Between Your Ears?
"The chief function ofthe body is to carrythe brain around."
Thomas A. Edison
As I previously wrote, because my brain was badly damaged, I wantedto study and learn about my brain. I discovered a great deal. Scientistsare still making new discoveries all the time.
Most of us know more about the way our car worksthan our own brains, I wanted to learn more.
This field is so open. If you are a student, you should seriously considergoing into neurology, you will be helping mankind if you do. In fact, isit too late for me to go and get my doctorate in this field?
This is a good field to go into now because the last few decades have seenfantastic growth in our knowledge of our brains.
Imagine, in this space that is no larger than a grapefruit, about threepounds, there are between 10 billion and 100 billion neuron cells (noone knows exactly how many), communicating with each other.
These neurons (or nerve cells) communicate with each other throughelectrical and chemical connections.
For example, you have to reach to catch a ball while juggling. A signalsent from your brain manages to speed quickly through the nervoussystem to eventually find the exact area of the brain designed to handlethat signal, then return to move your hand—and do it in a split secondbefore you drop the ball.
Most brains work the same, no matter the size of your thinker.
Brain size varies between sexes and races, and of course, between allpeople. Brain size doesn't matter that much to your intelligence; one ofthe largest brains on record is that of an idiot's. (I won't write his name,or, is it her?)
It is how we learn to use the brain that we havethat matters. (Are you using yours well?)
Your brain comprises 90 percent of your central nervous system, byweight alone. That thing in your skull performs a substantial amountof responsibilities to keep you alive.
Your brain performs a considerable number of tasks, some of whichinclude—
• Your brain accepts a lot of information about the worldaround you from your various senses—namely: seeing, smelling,hearing, tasting and touching—continuously.
• Your brain handles your physical movements when talking,walking, juggling, sitting or standing.
• Your brain controls your body temperature, heart rate, bloodpressure and breathing.
• This incredible organ lets you think, reason, dream andexperience a number of emotions.
To perform these incredible tasks, there are three main parts to yourbrain. They are the forebrain, the midbrain and the hindbrain.
Along with these main parts of your brain is your brain-stem,extending out of the back and bottom of your brain inside your neckand backbone.
The brain stem connects to your spinal cord.The brain-stem is actually part of your brain.
Nerves go from your brain through your brain-stem and out from yourspinal cord to your muscles in your outer limbs, your skin, your sensoryorgans (ears, eyes, nose), and all other parts of your body. Quite a designon both sides, yes?
Many of us think of the brain as a single structure, but it is actuallydivided into two halves. These two parts, or hemispheres, are tightlypacked together inside the skull and are linked by several distinctbundles of nerve fibers which serve as channels of communicationbetween the hemispheres.
Just think, every minute over one and a halfpints of blood flows through your brain.
Part of that blood flow goes through the front area of the brain whichis our frontal lobes. These areas provide our ability to think and toexamine ourselves. This ability to self examine makes us human, givesus control.
Control of your body's basic movements and sensations is evenly dividedbetween the two cerebral hemispheres. Out of these two hemispheresyour brain takes care of everything.
Your brain is delicate and must be protected.
Your brain controls what you think, dream, and do, along with takingcare of your bodily functions. Of course, such an intense powerhouseis quite intricate.
Helping to isolate and protect the brain from the rest of the body is theblood brain barrier. This is a membranous sac that covers the braintissue and prevents bad blood and chemicals from entering the brain,yet allows the good.
Nutrients and other substances can enter the brain only by way ofselective passage across the blood brain barrier. This shield surroundsthe brain with a fluid that buffers the brain against shock, includingnodding and turning the head.
In looking beyond this blood brain barrier, a cut open brain seems aworthless mesh of neurons. Yet a signal hurtling through the nervoussystem manages to find the exact region of the brain designed to handleit, quite incredible if you ask me. This is a continuous action that goeson even when the brain is hurt.
Even when damaged the brain uses amazing pathways. This blood brainbarrier protects your brain, but an outside force may still cause damage,as happened to me. So little we know about our brains.
Although we know little about the brain, we do know that the lefthemisphere of our brain is mainly conducting the verbal process incommunicating; our right hemisphere is both sending and observingfacial expressions, body language, voice inflections and othersubconscious messages.
Your messages and processing is exclusive to you. Your brain is unique,you are quite astonishing. In just that small space between your ears somuch is taken care of.
In most of us, the left side of the brain mainly deals with the followingareas:
Numbers
Analysis
Logic
Language
Sequencing and linearity
Language, Math
Thinks in words
While, in most of us, the right side of the brain deals with:
Imagination
Dimension
Rhythm
Daydreaming
Color
Feeling
Intuition
Art, Music
Nonverbal
Spontaneous
Thinks visually
When I was damaged by that truck my brain felt nothing; we have nopain sensors in our brain, so the brain itself has no feeling of pain.In fact, a surgeon can use a local anesthetic to open the skin for anoperation, and, once they get through the skull, the patient will not feelwhat is going on and can remain awake.
Along with having no nerve/feeling cells, did you know that your braincannot grow new cells to replace old ones?
In various parts of the rest of the body, new cells can grow to replaceones that are damaged. After a head injury, no new cells will grow toreplace those that were damaged. Also, as we get older, brain cells diein the thousands daily.
From the age of twenty, our brains reduce in size, about one gram a year.Yet, the brain is so massive in neurons and connections that we can keeplearning our entire lives and never fill up this cavity of knowledge that isin our skulls. So, no replacement for damaged brain cells, but you havea surprising amount on reserve in this unique aspect of yourself.
As each brain is different, each and every brain injury is unique.
After an accident and damage to the brain, by accepting a simpleunderstanding of how your brain works, you can become your owntherapist, your own personal adviser. You know, and can learn, morethan you know you can. Even without an injury, study your brain tolearn to use it better.
Facts about your brain:
• Your brain contains around 400 miles of tiny blood vessels.
• The human brain is about 75% water.
• Your brain contains about 100 billion neurons, which is about15 times the number of people on Earth.
• There are more nerve cells in your brain than there are starsin the Milky Way.
• Your brain is about 2% of your total body weight but uses 20%of your body's energy.
• Your brain uses 20% of the oxygen that enters your circulation.The brain only makes up about 2% of our body physique, yetconsumes more oxygen than any other organ in the body.
• Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 175miles per hour.
Brain image
It is estimated that the human brain has a raw computational powerbetween 1014 and 1017 operations per second. Now that's a fast computer!Use all of your incredible brain.
A common misconception is that humans use only 10% or less of theirbrains. Actually, every part of your brain is used for some function. (Iknow you, especially, use all of your brain!) The connections and signalsconstantly going on in your head are incredible.
More electrical signals are generated in one day by your brain than by allthe telephones in the world. All this electrical signaling needs constantoxygen to keep functioning.
How about this: loss of oxygen for just 5 to 10 minutes can cause seriousbrain trauma. Also, the brain can stay alive for 4 to 6 minutes withoutgetting oxygen. After that cells begin to die.
Your brain is remarkable, your brain is you.Be careful with it and use it well to do a good show.
CHAPTER 2
It's Your Show
"The more one listens to ordinaryconversations the more apparentit becomes that the reasoning facultiesof the brain take little part in thedirection of the vocal organs."
Edgar Rice Burroughs
Each of us is in charge of designing our own show, which is designingour own life. But, we do not have to face things alone.
People are here to help, yet, you are the one who must take control ofthat design that your brain brings. And, no matter what your age and/or your status in life, you can start now to design your dream life.
Start designing now, you've got this fantastic thingto think with, but learn to use it right.
As you know, after my accident I had to build and design a new life anda new future. I got to examine my upcoming life and see where I wantedto go. I had to change. (I got to change?)
Changing your life into the life you truly desire is something anyonecan do. In my past design, juggling was such a central factor; in my newlife I eventually had to see that juggling would be a much smaller partof this new design.
Learning to juggle again was a painful process for me, after having beenrobbed of my skills. It was boring and frustrating to rehearse outwardlywhat I already knew inwardly how to do. I had once mastered the art ofjuggling with considerable finesse, now the skill is difficult.
The neurological pathways from my brain to my limbs had to be reroutedto obey the messages from my mind. As I have said, in my mind all theprocedures of juggling were clear; I knew how to move, but my bodyhad to learn once again to comply with that knowledge.
Retraining my brain was a vital part of my come back.
When I returned to juggling, I had trouble juggling 3 balls. I droppedthem, I fumbled, my body was undisciplined, and I got angry; but I setgoals for myself and thereby step by step overcame the obstacles andultimately changed the course of action from failure to success.
It was like I had a new body to train, but really, a new brain. Eventually,my juggling became good enough again to perform, yet was far belowthe skill level of what it once was. A new show had to be developed.
Basically, I had to put together a new show with my life. I had knowledgeof the old ways, but had to go in new directions for my future, which wasdifficult because at first my mind could not think as clearly as I wanted.I knew I was in charge of the direction of my thinking and that I coulddirect my thoughts in the best way for my life.
We have so much dormant power resting in ourbrain; we will never be able to use all of it.
Remember, you are in control of your brain and how you use it. You runyour brain and make your life happen—good or bad. Remember that wecan control our brain; it doesn't have to control us. Use your brain right.
Most people have a brain; so few people know how to use it right. Thehuman mind is like a muscle, when we don't use our brains we weakenits ability to function. So, limber up your brain muscles! Keep learningand advancing through your entire life. You can't get away from yourown mind, so teach it right.
Your mind goes with you everywhere you go. Give it the training it deservesto work at its top level. We only use a small portion of our abilities,so most of our potential lies dormant in our subconscious minds waitingto be discovered. Something can be learned every day, if we look for it.
Remember, it's not how much knowledge one might possess,it is how you use the knowledge that you do have.
The writing of this book has added a great deal to my brain capacity; I'mlearning more and more to add to this text.
Here is my challenge to you—start writing your own book that will helpothers in their lives—start today. We are each the author of our ownlives, we live in what we have created. Yes, we are individuals, but wemust all work jointly to create a better world.
We must work together to help this whole world advance.
So many brains have gone through this world. It may be difficult foryou to believe, but there is not much difference between your brain andAlbert Einstein's. He learned to use his brain in a good and successfulway, you can too.
Start tapping the potential we all share by acquiring some all-purposemental tools and methods to use. Teach your mind to think right,emotionally and mentally.
Emotions play such a vital part in how we use our brain.
All experiences must be processed through the brain and given aconscience meaning before you experience any emotional response.Once you do have this response, your brain takes the information anddoes wonders.
Control your emotions and you control your thinking.
Speaking of emotions, when you stimulate areas of your brain thathandle positive emotions, you strengthen those neural networks, justas working your muscles of your body strengthens them.
The opposite is also true. If you routinely think about things that makeyou feel depressed or mad or hurt, you are sensitizing and strengtheningthe negative neural networks.
Be careful of what you think about, your mind will take it and run!
Keep the negative portions of your brain in check or they will becomestronger, and you will get more upset more easily in the future. Theopposite is also true; think positive, happy thoughts and you will buildthose areas of your brain. Keep focused on the positive, not the negative;even through difficult times and changes in your life.
Remember that your emotions play a crucialrole in your life and your future.
There are so many negative emotions, one of which is worry. Worry isa waste of time! Time spent in worry stops you from taking action thatwill give you a chance to influence the world around you.
Better than worrying is to take action!
Take action on the matter that is worrying you and you can suppressthe worry. Action is the key to getting through worry.
Now, stop worrying about worrying.
Worry is negative and will get you nowhere. A recent study demonstratedthe link between the mind and healing powers. Researchers used smallsuction cups to cause blisters on the arms of study patients.
They met twice a week and were told to keep the same thoughtsthroughout their days. Half were instructed to discuss and hold on tothings fun and positive, the other half to discuss things and hold to badand negative. The positive brains healed much faster on their arms thanthe negative brains.
Brain scientists have discovered a number of astonishing ways that thebrain affects our overall health, as well as how our behavior influencesthe health of our brains. Remember that your brain and body are you.
The brain and the body are incredibly connected. By training the mind,we can essentially change the brain toward greater gratification and abetter life.
Start today, start this moment, force your brain to hold on to and mainlythink good, playful, positive things. Do this for twenty-one days, haveyour new outlook and life visualized, and your whole future will bemuch better.
You can change your brain and be better.Yes, your brain can change.
Scientists used to believe that the brain could not change and was "fixed"after childhood, only to start a downward decline in the middle to lateryears. That turns out not to be the case.
Research is showing that, throughout our lives, the brain is perfectlycapable of changing, healing, learning and "rewiring" itself to anunexpected degree. Just look at me after my brain change.
