17/05/2025
NEGATIVITY BIAS: Why your brain keeps staring at the one cobra in a room full of puppies.
Your brainâs not being mean.
Itâs being ancient.
Martha Beck once said that if you were in a room with 15 puppies and one cobra, your brain wouldnât throw a party it would fixate on the snake.
Not because itâs rude.
Because it wants you to survive.
And hereâs the kicker: your brain still does this. Even if the âcobraâ is one snarky comment, one pile of unfolded laundry, or one awkward moment in a day full of love, connection, and small wins.
Thatâs called negativity bias, and itâs baked deep into your brain. It helped our ancestors avoid danger, but now? It mostly helps us feel like weâre failing at everything.
If youâve ever had a genuinely good day and still canât stop thinking about that one thing, youâre not broken. Youâre just human. (And human brains love a good cobra.)
The trick isnât pretending the cobraâs not there.
Itâs remembering that youâre also surrounded by puppies.
Noticing joy doesnât erase pain â it just balances the airtime.
Today, Iâm naming my puppies:
1. A kind message from a friend
2. My morning coffee
3. A deep breath that helped me reset
⌠you get the idea
So⌠what are your puppies today?
