Flow

I read the book "Happier" by Tal Ben-Shahar, a professor who teaches a course by the same title at Harvard. I found lots of little tidbits that I found interesting and probably true. There was one section that really hit home, it was called "Flow," and I'll share a little excerpt and here is why.

A lot of people have asked how I run for so long and how I keep my mind off of the misery, etc. This is the only thing I've found that really explained how I felt about running:

"Flow, according to Csikszentmihalyi, is a state in which one is immersed in an experience that is rewarding in and of itself, a state in which we feel we are one with the experience, in which 'action and awareness are merged.'

When in a state of flow we enjoy both peak experience and peak performance: we experience pleasure and perform at our best. Athletes often refer to this experience as being in the zone. Whatever we do in a state of flow - whether kicking a ball, carving wood, writing a poem, or studying for an exam - we are completely focused on our activity; nothing distracts us or competes for our attention. Performing at our best, we learn, grow, improve, and advance toward our future purpose.

When we are not distracted by all the other possible things we could be doing, when we are wholeheartedly committed to our objective, we are free to devote ourselves fully to the task at hand (Amy's note - this is why I end up doing long runs when I have nothing else better to do, it makes it so much easier because I might as well keep running and doing something productive as opposed to nothing at all. And I know you mom's never have a shortage of things to do so I can understand why this would be hard!). In flow, present and future benfit merge: a clear future goal is not in opposition but rather contributes to the experience of the here and now.

Research on flow shows that pain is not, in fact, the optimal condition for peak performance. Rather, there is a specific zone, the line between overexertion and underexertion, where we not only perform at our best but also enjoy what we are doing. We reach this zone when our activities provide the appropriate level of challenge, when the task at hand is neither too difficult nor too easy.

That it, friends. That's how I do it, don't know if it'll work for you but I found that statement so interesting. Whether it's running, employment, housework, etc. If we're being challenged but not overwhelmed, we perform at our peak and achieve the end reward of what we're working for!