You’ve never gasped this hard and your lululemon’s have never tasted this much sweat. You just hit 10 consecutive miles on your training run and you are so gosh darn proud of yourself. Or maybe you’re finally going to do it. You just decided to actually start that new business and you are brimming with ideas. All this excitement! Who do you tell? Don’t even say “no one” because NO ONE wants to tell “no one”. We all want to tell SOMEONE. Why? BECAUSE UNSHARED EXCITEDMENT DOESN’T FEEL EXCITING!
There are deep spiritual reasons as to why we feel the urgency to share our elation with others, but let me give you a personal example.
Kris and I have been married 24 years. When I married him, he was a furniture builder and trim carpenter (he has mad wood-working skills). I was 19 and in college when we got married. He was 21 and had tried college but didn’t find value in it at the time so he stuck with what he knew could pay the bills – his trade. In his life, the men that he looked up to were all tradesmen. They worked hard and they provided for their families. “Ain’t nobody got time for sitting around in a classroom.”
Although Kris valued knowledge (he reads and ingests information like crazy), he hadn’t actively pursued a bachelors degree until a year ago. As is fitting with his all-or-nothing mentality, he worked his butt off and earned his way into Harvard Extension School! He is enrolled in classes online and will take 2 or 3 classes on campus in Cambridge each year. He is loving it.
As his wife, I’ve been able to sit on he front row of this new Harvard journey; and it’s teaching me something critical about relationships. TRUE EXCITEMENT IS CONTAGIOUS.
Lots of people are in school and many of us are starting new adventures all the time. Is anyone freaking out with you about those things? They should be, because all of our beautiful steps in life should be met with excitement.
Unfortunately, I was a pretty jaded person. It took quite a bit to get me really excited. I had to ask myself why that was. Why would I not allow myself to express excitement at every turn? Fear that someone may think I’m a freak? Fear that they may not think it’s as cool as I think it is? Fear that I won’t be perfect and will fall short of nailing it the first time around? No matter the reason for not expressing my excitement, I was robbing myself of happiness and my community of a reason to celebrate with me.
Honestly? Who gives a rat’s rear end. Because here is what I have realized as I watch my wonderfully passionate and likeable husband get excited. Those around him get excited for him too. They see his genuine pride in his endeavor and they feel proud. His giddiness gives them license to be giddy about something. And let’s face it, we could all use a little more giddiness in our lives.
Do us all a favor. GET EXCITABLE. Give yourself permission to share your excitement, no matter how small. Encourage others to do the same. Hype them up when you know they are trying something new. We need and want more excitement in our lives.
Maybe, like me, you will find that getting excited about the little things brings profound understanding that it’s always just the little things that make us something great.
