As we yawn and open our eyes in the morning, the brain stem sends little puffs of nitric oxide to another part of the brain, the thalamus, which then directs it elsewhere.
Like a computer booting up its operating system before running more complicated programs, the nitric oxide triggers certain functions that set the stage for more complex brain operations, according to a new study.
In these first moments of the day, sensory information floods the system—the bright sunlight coming through the curtains, the time on the screeching alarm clock—and all of it needs to be processed and organized, so the brain can understand its surroundings and begin to perform more complex tasks.
I can confirm this. And it is part of the reason I know with certainty that I am basically a happy person.
I've hesitated to blog this even though I thought it was pretty cool, because I didn't want it to seem like a post about feeling sorry for me. But time has passed and I hope it is clear that I firmly believe, as I've written several times, that life is good. I'm satisfied with my life and content at how it is going. I'm pretty lucky, I think.
But confirming the boot-up process requires me to bring up a painful period of my life when my marriage was falling apart. That I will not go into. Things worked out for the best, as far as I'm concerned. Although it was difficult to see that better future at the time.
Anyway, I could feel the boot-up process every morning because of the contrast between the first moments of waking up and the rest of my day that began in whatever fraction of a second it took my brain to understand its surroundings and begin performing complex tasks. You see, I was pretty miserable at that time. Was I depressed? I don't think so. Not clinically. But I went through the motions of going through my day. Getting up. Going to work. Taking care of my son. Responsibilities I had. And I performed them dutifully. Even when I didn't feel like performing them. That was my life. I did have moments of joy, but they were mere interruptions in otherwise joyless days that passed into weeks, that passed into months, that passed into years.
But every morning, as my brain booted up as my day began, I was happy. Every morning I experienced a fleeting fraction of a second when I was content and happy, and life was good. And then all the information started flooding my system, reminding me of where I was and what was going on. And the happiness ended. My day, with all its complexities, began.
But I always remembered that moment of contentment. I embraced that feeling. Every night when I finished a day, I could look forward to that instant when my brain came on and I was aware--and was happy. I knew that unhappiness was not my natural state no matter how circumstances dragged me down. I knew, at heart, that I was a happy person. But it wasn't until I read the article that I realized I was on to something in thinking that way.
So there you go. Like I said, this isn't a post for someone to feel sorry for me. My life is pretty darned good and I know how lucky I am. I'm not a person who looks back with regrets. But even the horrible experience of living through a failing marriage that dragged me down taught me in no uncertain terms that I am a basically happy person who only had to work through my problems to keep that basic positive start-up sequence going for the rest of the day. I've done that in the years since, and I can say with confidence that life is good, I'm pretty lucky, and I'm basically a happy person. That's my operating system. Thank God.
