“Five golden rings!”
It’s amazing how much noise 132 elementary school students can make. But there they were, on stage for the annual Holiday concert belting out “The 12 Days of Christmas” for a very appreciative audience.
It was a beautiful noise.
These kids were fully animated. Each day of the 12 included a visual interpretation of each gift given, from lords a-leaping to maids a-milking. Their enthusiasm was so infectious the crowd began to mimic the actions of the kids from their seats. Even Santa, who was sitting in the room, joined in as well.
The enthusiasm and energy these kids brought this day was genuine and real. They showed up, lined up, and dove all the way in. The innocence of youth provides plenty of room for joyous enthusiasm to be fully expressed.
For the rest of us, well, enthusiasm feels like a lot more work.
Life does have a way of trying to beat the enthusiasm out of us adults, doesn’t it? Enthusiasm is often one of the first emotional casualties when life feels reactionary and all we just want to do is catch our breath for a moment.
Yes, enthusiasm may be a bit more work. But as adults, we do understand the correlation between doing the work and creating desired outcomes.
When I find myself to be emotionally lethargic and my enthusiasm fires need to be re-stoked, I will often turn to gratitude. Gratitude has the power to help me reframe moments of overwhelm and depletion. For me, enthusiasm is gratitude on steroids, and the longer I bask in moments of gratitude the hotter those fires of enthusiasm start to burn.
Enthusiasm is intentional. It’s a choice. It’s a decision to fully show up even when life has given me reasons why I really don’t want to. Defiant enthusiasm is particularly gratifying.
At times, though, I really don’t want to show up fully. I need some time to process the heaviness of things and I’m OK with giving myself the space to be human. When I’m ready, though, I know the path forward to getting me back to where I want to be.
Because I don’t always have 132 elementary school kids in front of me singing their hearts out.
Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash
Peter Mis LivingHalfFull.com 