How Far Would You Go to Live?

Laird Hamilton is a famous big wave surfer.  He was recently on the front page of Surfer Magazine with the caption “Oh My God!” and a picture of maybe the biggest wave ever ridden at Teahupoo in Tahiti; a very thick wave that ends on very shallow sharp corral.

His dad asked him why he does these things. He said “I trained for these waves all my life. I don’t want to not live because I am afraid of what might happen”.  He tests the meaning of the word live.  It clearly is an imperfect symbol of what we individually consider living. If I had his skill, which has brought money, a beautiful wife, a dream home. and a great life, I don’t think I would put it on the line every day. Here today gone tomorrow is his reality.

In writing and researching “happiness” I run across the gamut of what people consider “living”.  So many go to work, come home turn on the TV and recuperate for another day at the mill.  We live for Friday nights or that two week vacation.  Living means staying in our comfort zones and not rocking the boat.

This is usually not a definition of happiness.  Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi (pronounced “chick-sent-me-high-ee”) is often quoted by authorities as one of the experts on happiness. He thinks flow is only a small part of happiness, but most authors list gratitude and flow as two essential ingredients of happiness.

Flow is  engaging in activities that we find challenging, but not beyond our capabilities.  If we get too far beyond our capabilities we might experience anxiety or too much fear.  When engaged in these activities, distractions melt away and we are focused.  “We need to be able to focus and concentrate in order to accomplish meaningful or important work.”  I could quote many authorities who make this comment.

So on a scale of 1 to 10, what kind of challenges do we set for ourselves to make our lives meaningful and therefore exciting?  We don’t need to risk death. We might need to consider how we spend our free time and remove some of these activities so that the time can be filled with more “out of comfort zone behavior”.  We satiate ourselves with TV, emailing, texting, drinking, eating, and so forth for comfort and escape from boredom.

With surfing and writing, I can step out of my comfort zone pretty easily. By staying within my skill levels, I can challenge myself and yet get into flow which is very satisfying.  Building up skill levels in activities we enjoy allow us to keep challenging ourselves and raising this level.  The highest level of satisfaction in flow is said to be using our skills to contribute to the lives of others.

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Would you enjoy a free conversation about finding excitement and challenge in your life?  Life Management Consulting

How about some Surf Lessons?

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