Happiness and Being in the Moment

One of the virtues of doing something with a risk factor involved is that it demands your attention. I learned this in Scuba diving and I learned it again when my wife, Susan, wanted motor scooters for her birthday. 

Going through the training required for a motorcycle license fully dressed in the heat of the Texas summer was quite an adventure (and perhaps a bizarre diet, if you want to lose a few pounds). But the valuable takeaway from all this was a feeling of energized focus. There’s something to being fully involved in an action with single-minded immersion. It’s also enjoying the process of the activity itself—how it’s done and the equipment or tools that are part of it. Artists, cooks and musicians know this feeling, as do runners, rock climbers, skiers, snow- and skateboarders and others. There’s a spontaneous feeling of positive energy and a joy of being alive that is an integral part of the immediate experience.

Why don’t we have that more often? It might have something to do with the fact that much of what we normally do isn’t single minded. Our attention is often fragmented. Phoning while driving, working while thinking about all nature of things, and dividing our daily attention between past, present and future are examples.

Perhaps this is what makes going for a ride so special. Susan (see inset) and I get suited up, check our gear and bikes, and head out into the traffic with full attention on where we are and what we’re doing. But it’s not stressful; it’s a relaxed attention. It could be compared to a watchful dog or cat—not tense but ready to spring into action as new circumstances require. The zone is a great place to be, and what it gives back is a big reward for being in the present moment as if it mattered more than anything else. Perhaps bringing that kind of focus to the less dramatic aspects of life might yield a similar prize.

I’d like to know what you think.

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