DOP- OXY

It was a nice Sunday afternoon, that child was playing with his dog in their huge backyard, cuddling with him and laughing when little Bruno finally learned a new trick, while his sister stood at least eight feet away making a video of them doing the act, and just when they thought she’ll be joining she went back laughing looking at something in her phone. A week later, talking about that afternoon to their parents, the boy remembered every bit of that episode and recited smiling how Bruno made the flips to his dad, while the big sister looked through her feeds to recall what their dog did. She laughed it off. After all, it was just another day.

HEY THERE ITS IRIS,

Remember the happiness you felt when for the first time the likes in your feeds crossed a century or the time you’re following increased? That’s a dopamine rush. Dopamine is your brain’s signal that a reward is at hand. The joyful excited feeling is released when you approach something that meets an unmet need. It’s an instant pleasure but extremely short lived. The young boy was present in the moment with his dog , generating a selfless chemical called Oxytocin. It’s a nuero chemical of social trust, empathy, understanding and every emotion which forms a lasting impact to our souls. His elder sister forgot that day while it remained a beautiful memory for young Fred.

It’s better to make memories than getting over with days. We are responsible for our lives and what we get out of it; it’s amazing how that can be explained through the neurochemical system of our bodies.

In this new age world of intimidating social pressure and a constant need of acceptance, almost everyone is dependent on the dopamine to feel happy and fulfilled but in this quest of staying relevant we often forget what we already have and under rate oxytocin to provide what we are actually missing in our lives, that constant void we feel.

I’ll share a little anecdote, few years ago I was a social media addict, finding acceptance, happiness and contentment in the likes and comments of people who can vanish from my life the moment I dare to press that one button. There were days when I used to feel that I am on cloud nine and the next moment feeling devastated and isolated. Little did I know it was the dopamine addiction that was playing tricks on me and when I failed to receive that acceptance, Drip. Drip…Drip… there entered the cortisol giving me every bit of anxiety, tension and stress for not living in the La la Land I created for myself, while I had all the happiness in the world which I was too blind to see. Finally, I gracefully bid my goodbyes to this toxic addiction to open room for oxytocin to show it’s magic, the feeling you get from this selfless chemical isn’t instant and it takes patience to realise what you receive from it by letting it flow through our veins but once you do, there is no coming back because that’s exactly where your journey begins. You become more productive, you find time and value for your dear ones because you understand that your life was just here when you searched it all over the internet, you find happiness in the slightest of things and now you have the time to inculcate healthy thoughts in your life. Switching from this selfish to selfless chemical is what it takes.

In the simplest way, if infatuation is dopamine then oxytocin is Love. Both giving that rush of happiness, one will leave you before you even know and one is there to stay.

The ride from Dopamine to Oxytocin isn’t that hard, all you really need to ask yourself is that, ‘Where am I Going?’