When I look around my workplace, I see a lot of ethical, hard working, dedicated men and women. Most of them have something substantial in common besides their calling to the police profession. For the most part, they are pretty darn unhappy.
It might be things at home, or challenges within the industry, or possibly even the anti-police sentiment in society today, but unhappiness seems to becoming a police personality trait. With constant discussions of morale and low spirits within various agencies, one starts to wonder exactly what is causing this plague of unhappiness.
While police work is unique in many ways, when it comes to happiness (or resolving the problem of unhappiness) the solution is universal. The answer lies in understanding the human brain. The concept of neuroplasticity tells us that the brain is continuously molded by our experience.
The Worst of Things
When you look at the average day of the police professional, you see disproportionate exposure to negative events. People are hurt. People are in crisis. People are angry. Day after day, we see the most negative and trying aspects of humanity. After continuous exposure to these negative events, if we are not careful our brain believes this is a reflection of all aspects of life. When the brain believes there is more negative in the world than positive, it begins to view the world through a filter. It is this filter that is causing our unhappiness.
This filter magnifies the negative and minimizes the positive events to which we are exposed. With each negative exposure, our brains become more and more convinced that this is a true reflection of society. Even when something positive is glaringly obvious, we dismiss it as an anomaly because our brain has been trained to identify the negative interpretation of reality as the honest reflection of the truth.
Our day-to-day processing of experience develops our brain just like weight training builds our muscle tissue. It is time we start training our brain for positive results with the same effort we train our bodies for physical threats in defensive tactics. This is going to require a change in the way we do things.
Science tells us we are creatures of habit. At times habits form without us even realizing it — like police work and seeing the world through a negative filter. Other times we can create better habits to improve our lives — such as exercise or healthy eating.
Focus on the Positive
Happiness researcher Shawn Achor states that re-telling or documenting positive experiences cause the brain to relive those experiences. The same is true for negative events. This means we create the habit of happiness or unhappiness in our brain by the stories we chose to tell.
It is time we each make a personal commitment to being happy. Not for the sake of our profession; for the sake of our quality of life. This requires a shift in what we choose to focus on. We must consciously decide to dwell in the positive instead of the negative. When you go home at the end of your shift, try sharing your positive encounters instead of the negative ones.
Instead of reliving the “excitement” of the negative experiences, make an effort to focus on the good you have done. The effects will not be immediate, but over time, you will begin to see your focus move to more positive things. Your level of happiness will begin to rise.
We know a positive brain is more productive and more resilient than a negative brain. This means when we are happy we have a greater ability to feel rewarded by the work we do. By choosing to focus on positive occurrences rather than negative ones we can actually change the way we experience life. The result is less stress and more happiness. This has the potential for far reaching impact.
Leading by example, we can start to influence the people we come into contact with each day. Be the change. In roll calls, talk about your helpful intervention rather than the crisis you were addressing. Focus on the people you are helping and you will slowly begin to see the change in the way you view life.
As Dr. Wayne Dyer says, “When you change the things you look at, the things you look at change.”
The secret to finding happiness lies in intention. You chose if you are happy or not in the behaviors you engage in each day. In high-stress moments, it is difficult to focus on the positive unless you have prepared for the situation. Train to overcome the threat of negativity that you will inevitably encounter. Focus on the good things in your life. Make the conscientious choice to speak of positive events instead of negative happenings. These subtle changes can be life changing. You will be a happier person for it.
