Attitudes, energy, the brain, larks, owls and the SHEMA...

You know how you get morning people and evening people!? Some folks like to wake up early and get a good head start on the day (these are morning people), others like to stay up late and work when it's quiet and they can go ahead undisturbed (these are the evening people).... Normally morning people and evening people marry each other!

Well, I think I am an all day person! I like to be up early and I like to work late. There is a biological explanation for this, by the way, it comes back to my research into the human brain.

Since the brain is primarily an organ that is directed towards ensuring that you survive it will do its best to ensure that you get all of the rest you need so that you can be most alert and physically capable of doing your best work when it needs to be done. When the brain senses that you're running low on energy it will start a process in the pineal gland (which forms part of the body's endocrine system) to slow you down, release melatonin into your blood stream and eventually put you to sleep. The converse is also true, when your body realizes that you need to be awake it will engage your endocrine system to start activating your senses (hearing, touch, smell, sight, etc.) so that you wake up and start functioning.

The system that puts you to sleep is called the homeostatic sleep drive, and the system that wakes you up is called the circadian wake system. Each of us is wired differently because of a host of complex factors the most common of which are:

- our physiology and physical state. People who carry more weight require more energy to stay awake and so should have a strong homeostatic sleep drive. People who are fit generally have a more balanced state between sleep and wake patterns since their bodies are accustomed to exerting more energy in shorter bursts without fearing a shutdown (if you're not accustomed to exercise and you suddenly engage in it your body will get a shock and so start shutting down energy intensive tasks in order to ensure longer survival), moreover, fit people tend to sleep better since they are physiologically programmed to optimize the cycles of activity and rest.

- our mental / emotional state. Persons with a normal chemical balance in their endocrine system (and particularly within the brain) have regulated sleep patterns. In a bid to conserve energy and to be efficient the body will largely automate certain functions (like the engagement of the pineal gland as a neuroendocrine transducer for sleep and wake states) based on a pattern or rhythm from your everyday life. So, if for years you have gone to bed at 22.30 your body will know to start slowing you down by 21.30. However, if your mental state changes suddenly (you watch a very scary movie or undergo a shocking experience at 21.30) the body will react to ensure your survival by heightening your senses and releasing adrenaline into your system (so that you can fight of flee). Of course prolonged instances of stress, such as dissatisfaction with one's work environment, a feeling of being trapped in a financial cycle or a bad relationship can also cause an imbalance in the chemicals in the brain which can lead to an altered mental state, which impacts sleep... The net outcome is a fairly destructive cycle! Sadly, some persons turn to prescription sleep medication to help them sleep (introducing chemicals into the system that synthetically mimic the chemicals the brain would normally need to induce sleep), and eventually find themselves hooked on such drugs.

Of course there are a host of other factors that can contribute to poor sleep patterns. The point is simply this, most of us, even those of you who are 'normal' tend to be either larks (wake early) or owls (stay up late).

There are a few persons who have the disposition that I have, which is to be able to stay up late and wake up early without any noticeable effects - I'm an all day kinda person! In my instance it happens to be as a result of a suppressed homeostatic sleep drive and a lack of melatonin. This has served me well over the years, allowing me to study, read, pray and add a few extra hours to most days without feeling the effects. Of course this is also something that you can train your body to cope with by building a natural pattern and fighting some of the urges to sleep longer than is necessary!

I have a few friends that don't deal well with mornings, and a few who tend to crash in the evenings.

What I have discovered is that attitude is a very important part of getting the most out of our days, and of course the whole of our lives! We can choose to take mastery over our minds and our bodies!

You know, a few years ago I made a remarkable discover. I was reading Duet 6:4-5 (the Hebrew Shema) and noticed that it differed slightly from the 'great command' of Jesus as summarized in Luke 10:27. In the Shema we are commanded to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your strength". In Luke 10:27 Jesus adds one very important aspect... the mind "Love the lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind."

I once heard a person speaking on this saying that it means that we should love God with our hearts (passionately), with our soul (intimately), our strength (practically), and with our minds (creatively and intentionally). Loving God and those whom God loves is a passionate, intimate, practical, creative and intentional lifestyle!

I don't think that attitude is the beginning and the end of all things... But, I do think that an 'all day' attitude can make a huge difference to your experience of your life, and the experience that others have of you in your life! In some sense HOW you are does determine WHO you are. Here's a little video I made (for the videocentric folks among us (see this old post, and this one)... Not all of us are logocentric!)

Notice that Jesus adds that all important element that we must "love our neighbor as we love ourselves"... That is the great responsibility we have.

Do you know some people who drain all of your energy when you meet them?

Are there some folks who you dread receiving a phone call or an email from?

I have a few people like that... I do my best to love them, I pray for them frequently, and I do my best to be empathetic and compassionate... But, with a few of them I realize that they have very little to be unhappy about, they have just given up on joy! They've become bitter and unhappy through a series of small disappointments, and these small things are stopping them from seeing the GREATER joy that exists all around them.

Of course there are some very real situations where a positive attitude will not give much other than courage and hope... I realise that. However, I am talking about people in general who just slide into unhappiness. I could go on to talk about the operation of Broadman area 17 in the brain, and how it only responds to 'extra-ordinary' stimuli (i.e., better than expected or worse than expected)... The brain, once again, is not made to respond to what it expects since it is conserving energy! BUT, that is dangerous, but we quickly get used to the view we drive past every day, or the love of a spouse, or the privilege of meals, or the fact that we have work....

But, let me not get sidetracked into that train of thought ...

So, do you think that attitude has any role to play in your experience of joy in life? Are there any examples you can share that may encourage and help anyone who stops by the website? OR, do you have a different perspective or insight that will help me to understand and see things differently?