" Enjoyment appears at the boundary between boredom and anxiety , when the challenges are just balanced with a person's capacity to act ."
-- Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi --
Flow is an optimal state in which one feels totally engaged in an activity . Whether long distance cycling or blog writing , sumo wrestling , reading or sex for some . In a state of flow one is neither bored nor anxious , and one wouldn't question his own adequacy , hours pass without your noticing .
The psychologist "Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi" coined the word "flow" for this type of situations . Flow often occurs , he writes , in conditions in which people become independent of the social environment to the degree that they no longer respond exclusively in terms of its rewards and punishments , to achieve such autonomy , a person has to learn to provide rewards to himself .
The fulfillment that comes from deep absorbtion in an activity outside oneself , activities that are not about approach or avoidance , gain or loss , but about something greatly intense .
Psychological theories usually assume that we are motivated either by the need to eliminate an unpleasant condition like hunger or fear , or by expectation of some future reward such as money , status , or prestige . Csikszentmihalyi though argues , that in flow , a person could work around the clock for days on end , and for no better reason than to keep on working fulfilling his vigor and interest .
So every person should be true to oneself . If one really desire something , one should go all the way to get it . One ought to stay true to his own nature , being relatively unmoved by rewards gives one a great amount of power to go his own way . It would be up to the individual to use that independence to good effects .
My gratitude to miss Cain , for pointing out some of the different aspects of Mihaly's psychological studies , thanks to you all for your time and patience , salamat.
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