When was the last time you felt excited rather than anxious about a new situation or challenge? Like a child being excited to go to a room full of new kids, thinking they will make many new friends. No second voice says that they will laugh, or not like something about them, not overthink how they are going to introduce themselves, just pure enthusiasm.
Of course, not all children are like this, but many of them possess this view about the world until a certain age and we can learn a lot from them. The more we grow up the more we hear a second negative voice that steals our enthusiasm. We keep expecting things to go wrong, or we don’t want to get too excited because we’ve been disappointed so many times. We think it’s naive to keep the same level of enthusiasm when things just don’t go as expected. Well, I get why we do this, I do it as well, but I missed being enthusiastic and I started looking for ways to reignite that fire.
When life gets kind of steady and every day looks almost the same, it’s easy to lose your enthusiasm after a while. Especially when we are engaged in activities that feel meaningless, or if we feel that we are not living authentically, or if we are overwhelmed with excessive worry and resentment, there is difficult to feel any enthusiasm. While we like comfort and security, we need to break the pattern now and then. However, we can’t just whenever we are bored, change jobs, projects, or places we live in, but we can create situations that excite us.
Here are a few ways in which you can bring your enthusiasm back. It will take some time if you lived a long while feeling numb, and some effort, so don’t dismiss them after one try.
Do you have enthusiastic friends? That one person that always seems to see the good parts, gets excited about ice cream, and makes you feel at ease. Their age doesn’t matter, from 5 to 100, it could be anyone. Spend more time with, them and learn about their life views. Enthusiasm is contagious. If you don’t have anyone like that consider meeting new people, scary I know, but if there is any club you would like to join from sports to books but didn’t do it because no one else wants to come, this is your sign to try it. And go there with an open heart, same as your first kindergarten day.
Do something uncommon for someone. Plan a fun evening or day for your partner, best friends, mom, or dad. Something that you haven’t done before with them. It doesn’t need to be fancy, something as simple as going for a picnic when they don’t expect to, taking a ride outside the city while listing to a custom playlist, or cooking something new for them can make you excited as you plan it in your head. It might not go as you think it would, but that’s ok, lean into that excitement before the event and go with the flow when the moment has come.
Implement an activity that you look forward to. I’d suggest something that implies movement as that will make you feel better long term. From fun fitness classes to learning tennis or playing basketball, or maybe you are more into hot yoga, there is something for you out there.
Randomize. When your routine gets to be too much, too unbearable, don’t just complain, do something random. As stupid as it sounds, from taking another route to work, or switching your usual breakfast for something completely new to try a new outfit or hair style, any small disruption will help. Keep it interesting, and implement some randomness in your week.
Being able to be enthusiastic about life same as a kid, doesn’t make you less responsible and it doesn’t mean that you don’t have challenges in your life or that you haven’t been through any traumatic events. It’s actually a sign that you evolved and that you don’t let the past steal the joy of your present. King of cheesy I know, but true as well. Most of the people that I know who are very enthusiastic in general have been through a lot in life, and that taught them to enjoy life even more.