Life is full of challenges.

In the past few days, I've found myself in conversation or writing about challenging situations. More specifically, how do we handle them and how can we grow from them?

Understanding the neuroscience behind our reactions and how our brain functions is a key component to navigating these situations, and then growing from the experience.

Did you know that we have three brains?

The triune brain theory suggests that we have three brains.

- Reptilian

- Mammal or bird brain as some might call it (Limbic)

- Human or Logical (Neocortex)

The Reptile Brain: this is our survival functions, flight or fight. The knee jerk reaction.

The Bird Brain: this is our emotions such as, anger, jealousy, sadness and so on. Do we cry, laugh or get angry.

The Human Brain: this is our abstract and rational thinking.

Understanding which of our brains typically dominates our reactions helps us move more quickly from reptilian to human. The faster we can move ourselves from the initial instinct of flight or fight to logical evaluation and rational thought the better we handle challenging situations.

Reflecting upon the situation and how we reacted is how we grow. Stepping outside of ourselves, metaphorically of course, to objectively replay the situation, evaluating how we reacted versus how we could have reacted, good or bad, is critical to the growth process.

Keep in mind, we aren't perfect. We aren't always going to be able to control how we react. Occasionally, emotion gets the better of us. We are human after all. However, if we can understand what drives our reactions, we have a better opportunity to reduce the "overreactions" and more effectively navigate challenging situations.

Which of your brains is typically the most dominate at initial reaction to a challenging situation?

If life wasn't full of challenge, it would be boring.

Make today your day to shine!