The Brain can Change - Dogs and Ditches

The saying goes, “You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” That saying is false! Sure, it may be true that it can be harder to learn new tricks as you get older, but no matter the age or stage, an individual can learn “new tricks.”

When my wife and I purchased our home, I loved the idea of being able to sit in a covered Arizona patio room when it rained. However, when the first heavy rain of the season came I quickly realized that the backyard drained towards the home and would flood the room. It was a nightmare. I still remember having to put blocks and dirt to keep the water from getting inside the house. After realizing this problem, I set a plan to change it. It took me a month to move rocks, dig a ditch, and redirect the water so it wouldn’t flow into the Arizona room anymore. It took a process, but finally after several attempts to redirect the water, I finally was able to not have water flow into our Arizona patio room. Praise God!

This process is similar to how it works in our brains. Our brains are neuroplastic, which means it is able to be molded and shaped over time or reshaped. This is the beauty of how God has made us. We have neuropathways that are made from when we are born (nature), but also from experiences from our lives (nurture) which can be comprised of both positive and negative experiences. In any case, our brain creates these neuropathways which reveal themselves in our day to day behaviors.

Think about it—- What is the first thing you do when you wake up? Or what do you when someone tries to talk to you? These scenarios and many like them have neuropathway responses based on both your nature and nurture experiences of life. Now let’s look at trying to change those initial responses, especially if we know it is a negative, unhealthy, or toxic behavior. How many have ever tried to learn a new behavior? It isn’t always easy and often times it is hard. This is where your brain is attempting to reshape itself with a new behavior but often times its a struggle and doesn’t want to because it is used to how we normally function. This struggle is similar to me having to move rocks, dig a ditch, and place a new direction for the water to run off. It’s a process to change and doesn’t happen with a snap of the finger. It takes hard work.

When creating a new behavior it requires consistency and time to fill in that old neuropathway and create and dig (practice) that new neuropathway. As I shared earlier, it is beautiful that this ability is how God made us. It is this ability that allows us to see hope, go through healing, allow restoration and change for the future. Just remember though, just like how it took me several attempts to redirect the water, it may take several attempts to solidify that new neuropathway (behavior). The important thing to remember is to keep trying and don’t give up.

No matter how old a dog you are, you can learn new tricks!