Focus and Distraction
“Between stimulus and response, there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” — Viktor Frankl in “Man’s Search for Meaning“
Jonah Lehrer has a terrific science blog, “The Frontal Cortex” which covers lots of interesting stuff on how the human mind works. The other day he talked about a woman who is a top ultra-runner.
The captivating part of her story is that she’s missing her right temporal lobe in her brain. This actually helps her endurance because she can easily lose track of time.
You know that feeling you get when you’re on the treadmill and know you’ve only got about 2 minutes left? She doesn’t have it because when she’s engaged in an activity (in her case running), she doesn’t have the feeling you get of relief (or agony) as she approaches the finish line. In other words, she’s in constant flow.
Here’s the takeaway and it completely parallels what I learned in my martial arts training:
The runner’s story is a perfect example of mind over matter. Sure, it’s important to have a healthy body, but when you’re completely focused on something, how you interpret what your body is going through is actually more important than what’s happening to you.
This philosophy is a major concept in Stoicism and a theme I’m reading about now in Viktor Frankl’s book “Man’s Search for Meaning.”
LINKS:
Brain Surgery Frees Runner, but Raises Barriers via NYTimes.com
