Proper development

Some believe that their self-realization is hindered by the many Asians in England, the existence of the royal family, the intensity of traffic under their windows, the malignity of trade unions, the power of insensitive employers, the unwillingness of the health services to take their condition seriously, communism, capitalism, atheism, whatever, in fact, except only for their own vain and thoughtless inability to pull themselves together.

The brain as a predictive machine
Somewhere along the path of evolution from single-celled organisms, we basically (but not completely) set aside the reflex, programmed version of the reaction to the environment in favor of the ability to make calculations based on the characteristics of certain circumstances. We are capable of such individualized reactions because we are endowed with a brain that can predict the consequences of various situations and our actions.
The fact that our brain constantly predicts the future is directly evidenced by our ability to be surprised [61]. We all have a set of knowledge and beliefs that are applied in the continuous analysis that our unconscious produces, evaluating current circumstances in order to plan possible actions in the near future. Surprise occurs when we encounter an event that does not match what the brain predicted. This informs the unconscious that its schema is probably wrong and needs to be revised, and interrupts conscious mental processing, as well as shifting attention to an unexpected event, since unforeseen circumstances may harbor one or another threat.
The "predicting the future" I'm talking about is not the same process that would be applied to predicting stock market fluctuations or which congressmen will be prosecuted next for misusing campaign funds. Rather, we are talking about something like this: “I hear rustling in the bushes. The last time I heard rustling in the bushes, a bear came out and tried to eat me. Therefore, it would be better for me to run away ”or:“ There is a mushroom in the grass. The last time I ate such a mushroom, my stomach twisted worse than ever. I'd rather not eat this mushroom."
Such are the modest, instantaneous and personal predictions regarding what will inevitably happen in the immediate vicinity in the next moments, key to survival; we are the last to lose them with age. For example, as I write this book, my ninety-eight-year-old mother is having trouble thinking logically. As a result, when we go out, she is not able to predict, for example, that it may get cold later in the evening, and does not ask to take her jacket. But she is still able to react directly to the circumstances, that is, when she becomes cold, she will ask for a jacket. Or, if I put her coffee cup too close to the edge of the table, she becomes very anxious and asks me to move the cup away so that it doesn't get knocked to the floor.
Throughout life, the brain continuously makes such instantaneous decisions, preparing you to act when the need arises, and one of the key components in these calculations is your nuclear affect. While your senses provide information about the circumstances in which you are, nuclear affect collects data about the state of your body.
Considering how powerfully nuclear affect affects us, it is amazing how often we are not aware of it. Being distracted, we sometimes do not notice for a long time that we are cold, hungry, or we are taking a cold. The ability to correct this situation, that is, to develop awareness of the nuclear affect, is the key to mastering one's own thoughts and feelings. We all instinctively act in this direction - we strive to change our mental state through the body. We console ourselves with “something tasty” or a glass of wine, invigorate ourselves before a sports game or cycling, listening to music, and in order to eventually have satisfaction and relaxation, we go for a run. By understanding the importance of nuclear affect and learning to be aware of it by checking its "temperature", we will be able to act consciously and proactively, manage nuclear affect, change it and understand how it affects our feelings and behavior.