Infatuation Fogs Your Brain

Did you ever notice that when you're in love, lust, or into a major infatuation with someone, you just don't manage to get much done? You spend all day thinking about that person whether things are going well or even if they are completely, heartbreakingly crappy.

Now, on the flip side....did you ever notice that when you have no interest in any special someone that you get soooooooo much accomplished? I'm serious. Without all those hormones mucking up the think tank, a person can actually make major strides in any direction he/she chooses. It's amazing.

I'm in the latter mode right now. I have no interest in anyone anymore and have focused all my attention onto work, school preparation, self-image improvement and my writing. It is now a fact, in my estimation, that love, lust, and infatuation just screws everything up. The higher functions of the brain just can't operate at full capacity when they are diluted with love-drenched endorphines.

Endorphines are those feel-good hormones released from the pituitary gland located in the base of the human brain. It's about the size of a pea but it can cause a bucket load of problems. Damn gland! When we are "in love", (that first flush of attraction), our pituitary gland goes into overdrive, flooding our bodies and brains with happy, happy hormones. This phenomenon actually causes another crazy freak of nature. With the hormone rushes comes an increase in pheromones (a heady-scented hormone that draws a man or woman to you like bees to honey on a hot day). Now, most people don't consciously notice any particular scent in the air, but it's there and it makes the hive swarm with happy worker bees ready to do your bidding. In animals, we call this phenomenon being "in heat". (Yea, I guess we use the same phrase for the human animal too!)

So, without our hormones and pheremones causing anarchy with the higher functions of our brains and bringing out only our baser instincts, many tasks that have fallen by the wayside can actually reclaim our attention. Houses get cleaned, laundry gets washed, bills get written and paid, goals become reachable and on and on....

I'm happy to be in a productive period right now. I hate the ups and downs, the highs and lows of romance, whether certain or uncertain. The fluctuations in the hormonal levels makes a Jeckyll and Hyde out of even the most laid back of individuals.

If anyone has difficulty getting beyond the "flush", try these following tips.

1. Wear noseplugs---no pheremone scent, no crazy heat.

2. Wear blinders!- No eye candy, no crazy heat.

3. Take birth control or hormone supplements--it controls fluctuations in hormone levels, keeping you on a more even keel. (Remember how out-of-whack Mom got when she went through menopause? Just one indication of how loopy a person can get when the hormones stage a coup and take over the works! Hot flash, Heat flush, different sides of the same coin!)

4. Don't be such an easily taken sap! In other words, don't believe everything you hear. Look for the actions to back up the words before you make daisy chains, sighing with luvvvvvvv....Actions always speak louder than words and they prove a persons character. If the character is good, by all means, enjoy the "flush" of hormones into your brain.

Love is grand and we all love to be in love and sometimes, a good old-fashioned infatuation will do just fine as well. Just remember that a "flush" isn't always a good thing. Sometimes it just means getting rid of the poop!