Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi writes in “Happiness Revisited” that the best moments in a person’s life are the ones in which they push themselves to accomplish something that poses a challenge. Csikszentmihalyi insists that happiness does not simply happen, but rather, it must be created by each individual by setting goals that are neither too simple nor difficult to achieve. As Csikszentmihalyi stated, "Happiness is not something that happens. It is not the result of good fortune or random chance…But rather, on how we interpret them” (608). Therefore, happiness is directly related to how we govern and perceive our own lives.
In his writing, Csikszentmihalyi explains that happiness cannot be found by simply searching for it. He says that the more individual aims to achieve and find happiness, the more they are going to miss it. He says that instead of searching for happiness, the individual should instead learn that happiness is the outcome of their own …show more content…
But if we work to gain control of our own lives and strive to make something happen, or attain goals that we may have perceived as unattainable, we will have created what Csikszentmihalyi calls “the optimal experience”. He says that optimal experience is something that we make happen in the difficult and uncomfortable moments of life. As Csikszentmihalyi explains, the optimal experiences “usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile” (610). He also goes on to say, “Of course, such experiences are not necessarily pleasant at the time they occur…On the rare occasions that it happens, we feel a sense of exhilaration, a deep sense of that is long cherished and that becomes a landmark in memory for what life should be like” (610). This is the main point that Csikszentmihalyi makes in his
In his writing, Csikszentmihalyi explains that happiness cannot be found by simply searching for it. He says that the more individual aims to achieve and find happiness, the more they are going to miss it. He says that instead of searching for happiness, the individual should instead learn that happiness is the outcome of their own …show more content…
But if we work to gain control of our own lives and strive to make something happen, or attain goals that we may have perceived as unattainable, we will have created what Csikszentmihalyi calls “the optimal experience”. He says that optimal experience is something that we make happen in the difficult and uncomfortable moments of life. As Csikszentmihalyi explains, the optimal experiences “usually occur when a person’s body or mind is stretched to its limits in a voluntary effort to accomplish something difficult and worthwhile” (610). He also goes on to say, “Of course, such experiences are not necessarily pleasant at the time they occur…On the rare occasions that it happens, we feel a sense of exhilaration, a deep sense of that is long cherished and that becomes a landmark in memory for what life should be like” (610). This is the main point that Csikszentmihalyi makes in his