paraphrasing

1. Do you ever find yourself so completely gripped by what you are doing that you lose track of time? When does this total engagement and loss of time typically occur for you? 2. Contrary to what many believe, these moments in our lives are not passive, receptive, and relaxing times.These moments are when the body or mind is voluntarily stretched to its limits in order to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile. In turn, we later reflect on these moments as great experiences. It's fair to say then that great experiences don's happen to us; they are something we make happen. 3. However, such experiences are not necessarily pleasant at the time they occur. Getting control of life is never easy, and it can be painful. But in the long run, great experiences like these add up to a sense of mastery that comes as close to happiness as anything else we can possibly imagine. 4. The loss of self-consciousness that happens when you are completely absorbed in an activity-intellectual, social, or physical - is described in psychology as state of flow. In order to achieve flow, you must experience an activity as voluntary and enjoyable, and it must require skill and present an achievable challenge, whit the goal being success. You must fell as though you have control and receive immediate feedback about your performance with room for growth. Thus, you can achieve flow while reading a good book or while fixing your car. 5. A growing body of research supports the notion that by confronting and meeting challenges, anyone can create flow in their life. 6. Scientists cush as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi study the impact of flow states on human happiness, productivity, and success. In one study, 250 high-flow and low-flow teenagers were asked to report on their feelings and activities at regular intervals. The high-flow teenagers end up having greater long-term happiness as well as success in school, social relationships, and careers. 7. One hypothesis is that high-flow activities require more initial motivation because they require skill and concentration.