Second, the knowledge of how to control consciousness must be reformulated every time the cultural context changes.

Chapter 9 describes ways in which people manage to enjoy life despite adversity.

THERE ARE TWO main strategies we can adopt to improve the quality of life. The first is to try making external conditions match our goals. The second is to change how we experience external conditions to make them fit our goals better.

COMPLEXITY AND THE GROWTH OF THE SELF

To understand why some things we do are more enjoyable than others, we shall review the conditions of the flow experience (chapter 4).

When physical vigor fails with age, for example, it means that one will be ready to turn one’s energies from the mastery of the external world to a deeper exploration of inner reality.

Such individuals lead vigorous lives, are open to a variety of experiences, keep on learning until the day they die, and have strong ties and commitments to other people and to the environment in which they live.

One simple way to find challenges is to enter a competitive situation.

Sixth, enjoyable experiences allow people to exercise a sense of control over their actions.