Starling Fitness: Daily writings on Fitness, Diet, and Health

I’ve been reading an excellent book called Flow: The Psychology of Optimal Experience. It’s not a diet book. It’s a book about those times in your life when you are really in the groove. It might be when you’re reading a book and you look up and find out that it has been two hours since you last looked at the clock, but it feels like it was only fifteen minutes. Or maybe those times when you are doing something really complicated and you lose yourself completely in the experience. Those times are called flow.

There are two ways to feel good in life: pleasure and flow. Pleasure is usually short-lived and entirely external, such as watching television, having sex or eating. Flow can happen with almost any activity, but requires some skill and difficulty.

I’ve experienced flow when reading, while writing, while taking pictures (and manipulating them on Photoshop), when I crochet, while playing Dance Dance Revolution and even when running. If you sat down right now and made a list, I’m sure you have had several instances of flow with various activities.

I even remember being in flow when I worked at K-Mart. There were busy times, such as during the Christmas season or right before Mother’s Day, when working at K-Mart required all my concentration. Getting those customers out the door happy was something that I was able to excel at and during those times when the lines were long, I actually enjoyed working at K-Mart.

The author of the book says that flow is the main element of true happiness and the more time we can spend in that state of mind, the happier we will be.

What does this have to do with eating healthy? Tune in tomorrow to find out.