Ronnie Nurss

I just started reading Flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihaly and absolutely loving it. One thing that particularly captured my attention was how Mihaly explained the difference between pleasure and enjoyment. According to Flow, we can experience pleasure by without any investment of pyshcic energy, whereas enjoyment happens only as a result of unusual investments of attention.

Mihaly then explains how easy it is for a child to experience enjoyment. Flow states that every child is a little “learning machine”, as children are constantly leaning new movements and words.

This instantly reminded me of how children always look so happy, and how contagious a kid’s smile can be to an adult. It’s also evident today that children obviously smile and laugh way more than adults do on average. One reason children could be happier, or enjoy optimal experience more often, could be due to the fact they are constantly learning.

After these children go to school, the exitement of learning new things tends to wear out. 2 years out of highschool now, I notice a majority of people I went to school with say they are “done with school, and will never have to read a book again”. Adults in general tend to rarely read 1 book a year, and according to this article, 1 in 4 adults read no books at all.

One way adults can enjoy optimal experience and be happier more often is just to learn from children. Constantly push yourself to learn something new and enlightening. Personally, I notice a huge difference between the attitude of friends my age who read and educate themselves and those who don’t.

Point is, dedicate yourself to learning something new, constantly. Whether its through reading a book, attending seminars, or taking classes. Just don’t work a job because it pays money. Work a job that forces you to learn something new. It is amazing how much there is to learn and experience, and it really just starts after highschool. Always seek to learn more, and overall enjoy life more.

Tuesday, 3. June 2008 at 6:35 pm posted under Lifestyle. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can also Leave A Response or Trackback from your own site. Thanks for reading.