Here's an excerpt from my book on Positive Experiences and Good Feelings which details this aspect in greater depth. This was written about 1990, with minor updates since then. In light of this study, I'll be fleshing ou the anticipation part of this. Over the years, teaching people to expect positive experience (PE) and be ready to 'jump into them" when they pop up, as unplanned for surprises, has been a lot of fun, because when I encounter them myself, I alway think of the advice. I think some people are much better at being ready to have PEs than others. Of course, that's what my Anatomy of PEs is all about-- helping people to build their skills at all aspects of PEs before, during and after.
I should add that I used to focus more attention on the "good feelings" part of this model, but Martin Seligman pointed out, quite correctly, that a good number of people don't have those good feelings associated with PEs. And reflecting back on the research, I agree. This was an example of my personal bias, since I DO have the good feelings. Researcher Professor Avrom Goldstein did a study which determined that some subjects-- only about half, reported felling "thrills" or chills up the back of the neck, in response to music, inspiring stories, sex, perfume, touching certain things.... and he determined, using a double blind study, that endorphins-- endogenous opioids-- mediated the thrill experience. When he administered Naloxone, a drug that inhibits opioid responses, the thrills that had previously, reliably been produced in subjects listening to rousing music, were no longer produced.
Despite Dr. Seligman's disputation on my statement that "PEs and the positive feeling they produce are the basic building blocks of happiness, the capacity for happiness, inner strengths and the ability to face adversity, develop loving relationships, etc." I still believe that for those people who do have positive feeling associated with PEs, the statement is true.
Allen Schore has published massively, reviewing thousands of articles on attachment and early infant-parent interaction which document the essential role of early positive experiences upon the healthy neuroanatomical development of infants and young children-- development which determines capacity for happiness, emotional stability and ablity to love, trust, have self esteem, etc.
www.positivepsychology.net
Positive Experience Planning, Creation, Discovery
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Plan, schedule, research, anticipate PEs--
Besides being physically, mentally and emotionally prepared for a positive experience, you can schedule PEs and plan your reaction to unexpected PE opportunities.
"If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in the common hours." Thoreau
List and examine your dreams, goals, fantasies and projects. Use mental imagery and fantasy to start breathing life into your hopes and plans for the future. Explore the details, examining the short and long term considerations--the pros and cons for each of your PE goals. Prioritize their importance and assess the likelihood of their happening. Plan the steps that you will take to get them rolling. Decide what you must change to increase your chances for success. Begin to anticipate the pleasure your achievements and successes will bring you. Before you reach your goal, whether its a vacation, graduation or a weekend with someone special, let yourself begin to feel your heart glowing with the light at the end of the tunnel. Expect some difficulties-- the universe's standard price for the most valued moments. Use your anticipation of pleasure as a reward to keep you motivated as you persevere through work and adversity.
Stretch to Flow: Fresh challenges sharpen your skills
As part of an experiment conducted by Social psychology researcher Dr. Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, a diverse group of people carried an electronic beeper which periodically signalled them to fill in questionnaires describing their activities and feelings at that particular moment. Dr. Csikszentmihalyi found that people felt best when they encountered opportunities to match their own skills against challenges within reasonable reach of their capacities. When the challenge is strong and the skill brought to meet the challenge rises high, the person not only enjoys himself, says Dr. Csikszentmihalyi, but grows, stretching his capabilities and adding to his depth and complexity. When these conditions occur, attention narrows and concentration on the task increases. People often lose track of themselves and seem to merge with their task or their environment, experiencing a feeling of elation or transcendence. Dr. Csikszentmihalyi calls this pleasant condition of intense concentration a flow state. Flow states vary in intensity. The most intense and complex occur so infrequently that you must find or create opportunities for them.
Dr. Csikszentmihalyi also studied people who spent a lot of time and intense, strenuous effort totally immersed in activities for which they received little or no money or recognition--rock climbers, chess masters, dancers, high school basketball players and composers of music. Why do they climb or practice or stay up night after night working on a project only to forget it when it's finished? For the challenge. Because the sheer pleasure of pushing themselves to perform at the edge of their abilities puts them into a self-rewarding flow state.
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