That FLOW Of HAPPINESS

That FLOW Of HAPPINESS 

Today, it's three quarters into 2024 so by this time, it might make sense to do a 'CHECKPOINT' for your progress [OR is it NON-PROGRESS?] with regard your long list of New Year's Resolutions.  BUT allow me to bet.  HOW many of you included this curt entry in your New Year's Resolution:  "TO FEEL MORE FLOW"?  I really doubt it.  For alignment, let us reference the definition of FLOW which was dubbed by psychologists as that SECRET TO HAPPINESS.  In technical terms, FLOW is defined as that 'optimal experience' that each of us can incorporate into our everyday lives.   That FLOW Of HAPPINESS📗📙📘

Stumbling across a paper by a panel of psychologists, the first order of the day in that paper was this basic question:  WHAT IS IT LIKE TO BE IN FLOW?  Often, people would claim that it is like 'BEING IN THE ZONE' BUT psychologists added something more.  Apparently, WHEN people feel FLOW, they are in a state of INTENSE CONCENTRATION.  Their thoughts are focused on an experience rather than on themselves.  They would then lose a SENSE OF TIME and feel as if there is a merging of their actions and their awareness.  THAT they have control over the situation.  THAT the experience is NOT physically OR mentally taxing either💦💦💦

So, WHAT CAUSES FLOW?  The technical explanation of psychologists is that FLOW occurs WHEN a task's challenge is balanced with one's skill.  In fact, both the task challenge and skill level have to be high.  And we are reminded that we will NOT feel FLOW WHEN we are doing the dishes.  Most people are highly skilled dishwashers and washing dishes is NOT a very challenging task!@#$?  So, the next question is:  WHEN DO WE EXPERIENCE FLOW?  Studies showed that we will experience FLOW in more everyday experiences, even like competitive swimmers, chess players, dancers and mountain climbers.  Others experience FLOW via yoga, by biking, cooking✅✅✅

And with the plethora of technologies we now have, FLOW happens when people use interactive media, like playing video games.  Psychologists claim that games are obvious FLOW activities and play is the FLOW experience par excellence.  So, the next bigger question is:  WHY IS IT GOOD TO FEEL FLOW?  As FLOW equates to that 'SECRET OF HAPPINESS', experts tell us that experience can help people pursue their long-term goals.  That is because research shows that taking a break to do something fun can help enhance one's self-control, goal pursuit and even well-being.  So this explains WHEN we see video game players can hardly hear you, it's because they are very into the FLOW of the interactive media😃😃😃

Our takeaway:  The bottom line is to ask this question:  ARE YOU HAPPY?  And if your initial REALITY CHECK is negative, it means you need to spend extra efforts to improve your resilience in the face of adversity.  Part of this is because FLOW can help refocus thoughts away from something stressful to something enjoyable.  In fact, studies have shown that experiencing FLOW can help guard even against depression and burnout.  Neuro experts even claim that FLOW is associated with the activity in our brain structures.  This explains why when people are so focused on their tasks, it keeps people distracted from worry.  Setting aside medical science, it has become obvious that identifying and building your personal happiness-boosting inner strengths will make us stronger, feel more energetic and even perform at an optimal level beyond normal.  Let's keep this FLOW OF HAPPINESS unabated.  We need this, badly❗❗❗