Comments on: Why happiness is active.

By: Dee Psarros

Dee Psarros — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 03:37:34 +0000

Hi Katie,
Thank you for sharing this blog with me. Although I don’t swim, I do hike our AZ mountains regularly and find the activity of climbing brings me joy and happiness too.

I appreciated reading Terry’s insights and your experience as well. Great advice to find ‘satisfaction in the attempt, not just the outcome.’

Thank you!

By: bkjagadish

bkjagadish — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 10:33:01 +0000

Katie , I like your line : “Practicing TI gives me just the right balance between autonomy and humility.”….Thank You !

By: Terry Laughlin

Terry Laughlin — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 23:38:18 +0000

Katie Your phrase about finding a balance between autonomy and humiilty is wonderful. And your note about your goals gradually becoming more ambitious as you progress is very instructive. Have you considered becoming a TI Coach?

By: Katie

Katie — Mon, 19 Jul 2010 16:05:52 +0000

Swimming definitely increases my happiness. I feel grateful to be alive every time I get in the water. When I’m swimming, I get a powerful sense that life is beautiful, whether or not things are going my way at the moment.

Practicing TI gives me just the right balance between autonomy and humility. I have the tools I need to improve, and I control the amount of effort I put in. On any given day, though, the results are out of my hands. I can make great strides one day and have an off day the next. I just have to keep trying and trust the process. I need to find satisfaction in the attempt, not just the outcome.

I’ve been practicing TI for about a year now. A friend told me the other day she thought I was a natural-born athlete. HA! Natural-born Mathlete, maybe. People are always telling me how disciplined I am to swim so much. It *does* take discipline to maintain my concentration while I’m swimming, but it doesn’t take any discipline to get myself to the pool. As you say, it’s intrinsically rewarding. The minute I get out of the pool, I’m thinking about when I can go back.

My goals have gradually gotten more ambitious as I’ve progressed. My initial goal was to swim a few continuous lengths of freestyle without looking or feeling like I was struggling. My current goal is to swim 1K, 2K, and 4K events with a few minutes of rest in between this September. My current goal sounds very ambitious (crazy?) to friends and family. To me, though, it seems much easier and more attainable than my initial goal did at the time.

By: Gords

Gords — Wed, 14 Jul 2010 18:43:23 +0000

Agreed. Well said.