When was the last time you heard a song that got stuck in your head? Maybe you didn’t even particularly like it – that makes it even more irritating!
One of them that comes to mind for me is “It’s a Small World After All” that plays on the Disney ride. It goes from cute to annoying as the refrain plays over and over and over again while on a slow boat that goes all the way around the world. To make it worse, it keeps playing in your head for hours. Excruciating.
Everyone seems to have individual sensitivity to the tunes that get stuck.
So how do you get rid of that song?
You sing a new song.
I’m amazed that WebMd even has an article on this problem in their Mental Health section. They call it Earworms. Gross. There’s a study that says the syndrome bothers women and musicians more frequently – though 98% of people are said to have been afflicted by this phenomenon. About two-thirds of the time, using another tune to dislodge it is most effective.
So what’s the tune in your head today? Are you singing a song that fills you with hope, puts a spring in your step and infuses you with confidence?
Or are you playing a diatribe against yourself, your family, your co-workers and the idiot drivers on the road? (You’re busted.)
The Power to Retrain Your Brain is in the Refrain
Time to play a new song. If you become what you think about, it behooves you to think positive.
This is not some Pollyanna advice about butterflies and rainbows. What if the direction of your thoughts means the difference between life and death. Certainly, your negative thinking can shipwreck your relationships and murder your dreams. They can even make you sick.
So, what are you going to sing today? Start with the song about you. A study at the University of Hertfordshire reveals that self-acceptance is one of the top ten most important factors for happiness, but one of the least-practiced.
“Self-acceptance could be the key to a happier life, yet it’s the happy habit many people practice the least.”
Be as kind to yourself as you are to others. A few years ago, I happened on a blog by Melissa Wardy, owner of Pigtail Pals. She wrote:
There was a time when you were five years old,
and you woke up full of awesome.
You knew you were awesome.
You loved yourself.
You thought you were beautiful,
even with missing teeth and messy hair and mismatched socks inside your grubby sneakers.
You loved your body, and the things it could do.
You thought you were strong.
You knew you were smart.
Do you still have it?
The awesome.
Did someone take it from you?
Did you let them?
Did you hand it over, because someone told you weren’t beautiful enough, thin enough, smart enough, good enough?
Why the heck would you listen to them?
Did you consider they might be full of it?
Awesome is something you choose. Our kids do it naturally. We’re all wired that way. Before we start comparing ourselves, judging ourselves, and deciding we fall short.
Awesome is the choice to hold your face up to the world, knowing you are beautiful inside and out, and feel the light that shines out of you. Somewhere along the way, some people stop looking for the best in themselves. They stop choosing to be awesome. It doesn’t matter what your story is, if it is happy or painful…the time to be awesome is now.
Make that choice for yourself. Start today. Compose a new song and sing it loud.
If you have a song that you use as a go-to confidence booster – please share what it is in the comments below.