I'm preparing for a talk I'm doing about a book called Happier by Harvard psychology professor Tal Ben-Shahar. In this inspiring book, Ben-Shahar points out that most of us tend to focus on the achievement of goals, rather than the process involved in achieving them. A former Israeli squash champion, Ben-Shahar says he felt "empty" after winning at squash. In this book, he writes, "Happiness is the experience of climbing toward the peak."
Of course, any time I read something inspiring, I think about writing -- and the writing process. It's wonderful to hold a finished book in your hands, but the real satisfaction comes from hammering out the story (or whatever else you're working on). Anyway, there's another quote in the book that really spoke to me. It comes from a researcher named Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, who says: "the best moments usually occur when a person's body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult or worthwhile." I love that part about stretching. Csikszentmihalyi seems to be saying that we enjoy challenges, especially when they're of our own choice ("voluntary effort") or when we really believe in what they represent ("worthwhile"). I know I love stretching when I do yoga -- but until I read this quote, I never thought about stretching in brainier ways!
Isn't it nice to have a long weekend? Hope yours doesn't go too quickly!!