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Mihaly Csikszintmihalyin in Flow

Sep 1, 2014 4:06:00 PM / by Vu Long Tran

I had been reading a book called the "Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience" by Mihaly Csikszintmihalyin and it brings some interesting insights in why things may happen the way they do. As it seems that when we want something so badly it may not come into fruition.

It made me think about the things in life that I had wanted and didn't want and how they found themselves in my life. Perhaps it comes down to perspectives and focus in that you continue to focus on things that you find important.

So if you're optimistic, then you see the great things in life, and if you're on the other side of the spectrum - pessimistic, then you may only see the bad and unfortunate things in life.

Just as two people experiencing the exact same situation can end up feeling that it was an okay day (for the optimist) or a really bad day (for the pessimist). Of course, there are other factors such as expectations, past experiences, etc.  But it's just thought provoking to think of life in this way and perhaps when we want something so badly, it may not come about - for reasons in life we may never come to understand.

Either way, here are some snippets from the book. It's definitely worth a good read. 

'The best moments usually occur when a person's body and mind is stretched to the limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile.. such experiences are not neccessarily pleasant at the time they occur' 
'You can't find happiness by purposely searching for it'

'It is by being fully involved in every detail of our lives whether good or bad, that we find happiness'

Source: Csikszentmihalyi, M. (2008). Flow: The psychology of optimal experience. New York: Harper Perennial.

Vu Long Tran

Written by Vu Long Tran

Solutions Engineer APAC. ex-@Forrester consultant. Writing on #cloud #howto guides and #tech tinkering!