It's All In Your Head

Two useful blogs posts today that you'll see are somewhat related:

The Voice - Danny Gregory has a wonderful piece on that voice we all have inside us that tries to scare us away from trying new things. Not only is his description of the voice dead on, but he gives a refreshingly simple way to beat it (basically: don't outsmart it, out dumb it). For me, The Voice reminds me of an oncoming freight train: the closer I get to trying that new thing, the louder it tries to convince me not to.

Parcour and Inner Peace - this is a wonderful documentary which covers the sport of Parcour (aka fre running). While slightly less risky than say free climbing, it's still both extremely physically taxing and pretty dang risky. I love running, but I doubt I'll be adding flipping and leaping to it anytime. The movie goes beyond merely showcasing the sport of parcour, it talks about how for its participants it actually unlocks the key to inner peace. As I was listening to this description it occurred to me that they were perfectly describing that mental state of flow.

So yeah, if parcour is your thing, go for it. And heck, you should try it (ignore the voice that says you can't!), because maybe it will become your thing. But the bigger take away I had was the reminder that you need activities in your life that you can attain flow in. That's probably the easiest path happiness one could take. Whether it's your job, or your hobby, seek this out and don't stop till you've found it.

But even if you ignore my blabbing on about a topic near and dear to me, you should take some time to watch the video. It's exquisitely produced.