Pleasure or Enjoyment?  Tough choice, eh?  It won’t be after I tell you the distinction.  One can kill you.  And you can build your life on the other one. 

Here’s the distinction — pleasure is passive.  Pleasure seeking can kill you.  Pause and think how many examples you can think of in two minutes.  It ruins lives and families every day. 

While enjoyment on the other hand, is gained through deliberate pursuit of challenging and deeply satisfying activities that combine challenge, skill development, clear goals and require total immersion in the present.  

Did you see that last bit?  TOTAL IMMERSION IN THE PRESENT. 

These deeply satisfying activities are flow activities.  Don’t you want to live a life that is deeply satisfying and filled with enjoyment? 

Examples of flow activities:  Almost any sport, Taiji, drawing, giving a massage, designing a web page, writing a letter, cooking, gardening, surfing the ocean not the internet, many kinds of work. 

Riding a bike may not be challenging enough to demand your being present, but clearly that depends on how and where you ride.  My patient, Dave’s  bike riding would kill me with its intensity. And for some, designing a  webpage may be too challenging.  You want something that is challenging but not too challenging.  See? 

Design your life so you have lots of flow activities and you’ll know a life of deep enjoyment. 

I love this interaction from David Mamet’s wonderful film, State and Main: 

“So, you make your own fun.” 

“It’s not fun unless you make it yourself.  Otherwise it’s entertainment.” 

Get more details about how you can create flow with Simply Serene – Four Amazingly Powerful Ways to Be Instantly Alert and at Peace or Get Wealthy First Program.