Finding problems you can solve triggers good feelings in a brain that evolved for survival.

When you find the threats and obstacles you expect, you get a drip of dopamine, and it feels good.

It’s more realistic to say that zero change was thought possible in the past, and now it appears that some change can result from great effort. This does not alter the fact that our neural networks are largely built in youth. Later on, it takes big efforts to make small changes.

A mammal is threatened as long as it lives, so we keep seeking ways to feel strong.

We mammals live with threat by making predictions.

Humans attach words to the cortisol feeling. We call it fear, anxiety, stress, panic, shame, dread, suffering, misery, unhappiness, or pain, depending on the quantity and the context. In every case, the underlying message is “make it stop!

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you have to find something to do that satisfies your inner reptile.

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