This week’s historic peace agreement in the Middle East offers more than geopolitical significance. It provides a powerful opportunity to understand how our brains process hope, and insights into how we can train ourselves to see more goodness in our world.
President Trump’s declaration of peace between Israel and Hamas, formalized at a signing ceremony in Egypt with dozens of world leaders, has sparked an unusual wave of bipartisan celebration. Even longtime rivals like Hillary Clinton have praised the process, calling for global commitment to peace, security, and stability. Whether this fragile peace endures remains to be seen. Nonetheless, the moment itself provides a rare opportunity for us individually and collectively to shift our thoughts from fear to hope.
Deep within your brainstem lies a network of neurons called the Reticular Activating System (RAS). Think of it as your brain’s executive assistant, filtering the millions of sensory inputs flooding your consciousness each second and deciding which deserve attention. Your RAS prioritizes what you’ve trained it to value most. This process begins in early childhood and continues throughout life, largely out of our awareness.
Our brains are wired with a negativity bias, a tendency to notice bad news before good. One critical comment can outweigh 10 compliments; a distressing headline keeps our focus longer than an uplifting one. Since Oct. 7, 2023, news from the Middle East has reinforced this bias, heightening expectations of conflict and despair and causing ripple effects of unrest around the globe, tearing apart friends, families, co-workers and classmates.
If we are to thrive in our fast-paced, interconnected world with so much suffering, we must train our RAS to look for examples of kindness, compassion, caring and connection. This week finally brought that sort of news front and center. So, let’s seize the moment.
We can attempt to do this by retraining our RAS. Whatever you repeatedly think about, discuss, or visualize gets tagged as “important.” Once tagged, your brain filters the world to confirm it. Believe humanity is dangerous, and you’ll find endless proof. Believe positive transformation is possible, and your brain will begin to notice evidence everywhere.
Brain imaging shows that witnessing or hearing about acts of kindness, such as peace agreements, triggers activity in the reward system, releasing dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. These feel-good chemicals enhance trust, motivation, and social connection. Psychologists call this experience “moral elevation.” It is that subtle warmth in your chest when you witness goodness. It’s your mirror neurons lighting up, inspiring you to want to help others.
So how do we use this moment to reshape our thinking?
• Start your mornings with positive intentions. Ask yourself, “What kind act can I notice or create today?” This primes your RAS to filter for goodness throughout the day.
• Keep a kindness journal. Each evening, record three kind acts you witnessed or performed. Studies show that this simple practice rewires the brain toward optimism and gratitude.
• Practice mindful listening. Paying full attention to someone quiets your RAS and strengthens empathy. Presence itself becomes a form of kindness.
• Curate your media diet. The attention economy thrives on outrage because fear activates our ancient survival circuits. By seeking positive new stories, such as “Modern Love” weekly column in the NYTimes, you reinforce neural pathways of hope.
• Use visual cues. Post reminders of peace and positivity where you’ll see them often, such as T-shirts, coffee mugs, Post-it Notes. Such cues keep your focus and your RAS anchored in what truly matters to you.
In an era when countless forces compete for your attention, remember that you retain agency over one of the most powerful tools you possess: your focus. The RAS follows the training it has received through our genes, our childhood and our adult experiences. Feed it fear, and it will find danger. Feed it hope, and it will highlight opportunity.
This week, world leaders were able to come together and sign an agreement ending suffering in the Middle East and quelling anxiety around the globe. Whatever the future holds, that moment happened. That experience now lives in our shared consciousness. The shift from “impossible” to “possible” is no longer merely a theory. We have evidence that positive change can occur and is worth working towards.
The question is: For how long will your RAS allow you to focus on it? Will you let this breakthrough recalibrate your expectations for what humans can achieve when they choose dialogue over division? Or will the next round of negative news pull you back in and decrease your hope for the future?
By choosing where we direct our attention, we can participate in the world’s healing: one thought, one conversation, one act of compassion at a time.
“Be the change you wish to see in the world.”
– Gandhi
Beverly Hills Courier columnist Dr. Eva Ritvo is a psychiatrist with more than 30 years’ experience practicing in Miami Beach. She is the author of “Bekindr-The Transformative Power of Kindness” and the founder of the Bekindr Global Initiative, a movement to bring more kindness in the world. She is the co-author of “The Beauty Prescription” and “The Concise Guide to Marriage and Family Therapy.” She is also the co-founder of the Bold Beauty Project, a nonprofit that pairs women with disabilities with award-winning photographers creating art exhibitions to raise awareness. Dr. Ritvo received her undergraduate and medical degrees from UCLA, and psychiatry residency training at Weill Cornell Medicine.
