12 Things Happy People Do Differently

[GLC1968]

See - and when I read that part about 'flow', I didn't even immediately think about athletics at all! I thought about the day at work where I executed a tough schedule with finesse or back when I was in school and I was able to block out most of the world while I worked my way though a tough engineering problem of some sort. Funny!

(maybe this means I should focus more when it comes to exercise, huh?)

[indysteel]

See - and when I read that part about 'flow', I didn't even immediately think about athletics at all! I thought about the day at work where I executed a tough schedule with finesse or back when I was in school and I was able to block out most of the world while I worked my way though a tough engineering problem of some sort. Funny!

(maybe this means I should focus more when it comes to exercise, huh?)

I don't know that flow is limited to exercise. To me, it's anything that completely engages your attention such that you are completely in the moment.

ETA: There is some exercise I do that does not totally engage my mind. Running and road cycling are two. There is enough room in my attention span for it to wander.

[GLC1968]

I don't know that flow is limited to exercise. To me, it's anything that completely engages your attention such that you are completely in the moment.

You know, most of my life is like this. If I don't completely engage in the moment for whatever I'm doing, the rest of the things on my 'list' derail me and my productivity suffers greatly. In some ways, I look at it as being incapable of truly multi-tasking, but in reality, it could be viewed as ever changing 'flow'. When I'm focused on the farm, it's all I'm concerned with and I'm happy. When I'm networking on a college campus for work, it's all I'm concerned with and I'm happy. When I'm racing a triathlon, it's all I'm concerned with and I'm happy.

It's when I let my brain open up or 'wander' and all of the OTHER priorities come rushing in that I start to panic or get stressed. It happens a lot in the last few miles of a long training run where I start to think about what I have to do next and everything breaks down from my focus to my form to my enthusiasm for what I'm doing at that moment...

Interesting.

[Crankin]

Flow is a well documented phenomena in neuroscience/cognitive processing literature. I had to read a whole book on it when I was taking a course on brain based learning a few years ago, so we could provide appropriate learning strategies and activities that would engage kids. I remember immediately making the connection to how I felt when I was riding. I was a new rider when I was reading this stuff, and I think now, it's a lot harder for me to get that feeling. Cycling feels like hard work a lot of the time! However, I feel the flow when I finish.

[Bike Writer]

You know, most of my life is like this. If I don't completely engage in the moment for whatever I'm doing, the rest of the things on my 'list' derail me and my productivity suffers greatly. In some ways, I look at it as being incapable of truly multi-tasking, but in reality, it could be viewed as ever changing 'flow'. When I'm focused on the farm, it's all I'm concerned with and I'm happy. When I'm networking on a college campus for work, it's all I'm concerned with and I'm happy. When I'm racing a triathlon, it's all I'm concerned with and I'm happy.

It's when I let my brain open up or 'wander' and all of the OTHER priorities come rushing in that I start to panic or get stressed. It happens a lot in the last few miles of a long training run where I start to think about what I have to do next and everything breaks down from my focus to my form to my enthusiasm for what I'm doing at that moment...

Interesting.

This is me too. I get immersed in the moment to the point where WWIII could be going on right around me and I might not notice it. I believe I am a mostly happy person and identified with all 12 points on the list and really enjoyed it. In fact I shared that list with several people over the next few days. I made several copies of it and gave them away. People smiled when they read the title and I'm sure it made many of those people pause for a few minutes to contemplate and hopefully it helped some people.

In all, I probably passed out 20 copies and I'm glad I did.

Like GLC I am happiest when fully engaged in the moment or task at hand and get discombobulated when too much is vying for my attention.

Thanks for the blog link, I'll have to get over to it.