I took my intern to lunch recently to thank her for all her great work during the spring semester. As we walked the few short Philadelphia blocks from our office to the restaurant, her excitement mounted. She had only been between the train station, the office, and the Wawa around the corner. This was technically her first outing in Philadelphia.
We were seated near one of the walls that had been opened up to the sidewalk since it was such a gorgeous day and we talked as city life streamed past us. Everything excited her; being in a city restaurant, her “delicious!” sandwich, watching the preoccupied passersby. On our walk back, cherry blossoms in bloom, she stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, threw her head back, spread her arms, laughed and said, “I love this!”.
That night, capturing the happiest moment of my day, I wrote about my intern’s enthusiasm. I folded up the scrap of paper and dropped it into my happiness jar with a smile on my face. It was one of the best lunches I ever bought.
Her excitability was one of the reasons I offered her the internship. It is contagious and incredibly sincere; it also overflows into laughter. She reminds me of myself… and I am left wondering why there isn’t more enthusiasm in the world.
Is it maturity, experience, intelligence or disapproval that curbs our enthusiasm? Probably all of the above. Why do we stop proclaiming that our ice cream is the best ice cream in the “whole wide world!”, or that this day is the “best day of my life!” Countless times I have been told to settle down, or given wide disapproving eyes that made me self-conscious of my enthusiasm. I sometimes feel the need to apologize after an excited outburst, never because I am sorry, but because I am given the impression I did something wrong and I should. Enthusiasm seems to be misconstrued as superfluous, or a sign of immaturity. It’s unfortunate.
Thankfully, I have also been told that my passion is my best quality. It happens to be my personal favorite thing about myself and I am thrilled that there are people who see it and appreciate it, too. I feel genuine enthusiasm and excitement over any number of random things, foods, sights, sounds, jokes; you name it. In fact, I would scream from the mountaintops right now that I LOVE ENTHUSIASM! It makes me feel alive. To experience, enjoy, and speak of things with genuine excitement, so much so that it cannot be contained and it bursts out of your body in movements and words, is a gift.
Witnessing my intern’s enthusiasm delighted me. I hope she never loses that lust for life and new experiences. I hope I never do, either. It’s that enthusiasm that compels me to try new things, to imagine, to feel joy… and to truly appreciate the smaller things in life, like a delicious week day lunch or watching a lightning storm on your front porch, rather than living only for the big things.
In addition to writing down the happiest moment of my day, every day, I also use a 365 day/5 year journal. Every day I answer a different question and then the following year on that day I will answer the same question below my previous year’s answer. These exercises have slowed my life down. Contemplating my days and living more in the moment, I can no longer say things like, “I don’t know where the week went!”. I know exactly where the week went because I was paying attention.
The following two journals help me slow down and capture smaller moments – you can find them on Amazon: One Line a Day: A Five Year Memory Book, and Q&A a Day, 365 Questions, 5 Years, 1,825 Answers.
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So happy to have found your blog. I am glad there are others out there trying to figure it all out.
Lisa, I am also glad you found it! We will all try to figure it out together. 🙂