The Power of Enthusiasm

Happiness is a direct experience of enthusiasm. Remember, it is not how or when we accomplish something that matters most, it is the sense of enthusiasm during the process that demonstrates our quality of life. As Bo Bennett puts it, “Enthusiasm is not the same as just being excited. One gets excited about going on a roller coaster. One becomes enthusiastic about creating and building a roller coaster.”

What are you enthusiastic about?

If you wake up dreading the day, worried about the hours ahead and already wishing you could be done with it and back in bed, well, that’s just not cool. The first thing we reach for in the morning shouldn’t be our i-device or Droid; it should be consciously choosing the most positive thought that stokes our energy to excel for the entire day. Since our conscious brain can only hold one thought at a time, this singular thought can inspire the quality of the rest of our day through sheer enthusiasm.

When your morning enthusiasm becomes a habit, Robin Sharma writes in The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari that your life can look like this: “You will wake up every morning with a limitless reservoir of energy and enthusiasm. All your thoughts will be focused on your definite objective. You won’t have time to waste time. You will automatically erase the worry habit and become far more effective and productive.”

Why learn the language of Enthusiasm?

Enthusiasm gives us the chance to go beyond our happiness set point. According to geneticists we have an “inborn” happiness set point of about 50% that we return to whether good things or bad things happen. We have 10% influence based on environmental factors and up to 40% that is affected by “intentional activity.” Practicing the language and behavior of enthusiasm is making the choice to be happy.

This action helps us harness the power of our minds and hearts to work together. When what we think, feel, and do are in alignment we naturally live in a state of joy. The foundational teachings of yoga tell us that joy is our birthright. That doesn’t mean it comes easy: It takes real effort. However, this exertion is well worth it and we should never let a day go by without putting forth our best effort to live with passion.

In fact, yoga is a practice of awakening and recruiting every cell in our bodies to participate. It is an internal democracy to do something. And from the micro we can take it macro and make a difference in the world. Enthusiasm drives us to go beyond mediocrity.

I believe that individuals can make a difference in society. Since periods of change such as the present one come so rarely in human history, it is up to each of us to make the best use of our time to help create a happier world. – The Dalai Lama

Never again wake-up with anything less than excitement to live the best day ever. Hold to heart, in the words of Wayne Dyer, “You are not an apprentice person on the way to someplace else.” This is not a rehearsal. We will never get to do today over again so we might as well become fluent in enthusiasm.

Love yourself, love your day, love your life!
Silvia

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Editor’s note: This is another inspiring guest post by Daily Cup of Yoga contributor Silvia Mordini, E-RYT, retreat leader, happiness coach, and yogipreneur. Enthusiasm to love your life is contagious around Silvia. Her expert passion connects people to their own joyful potential. Silvia lives her happiness in such a big way that you can’t help but leave her classes, workshops, trainings and retreats spiritually uplifted! Born in Ecuador, raised traveling around the globe, she is an enthusiastic citizen of the world and spiritual adventurer. She has over 10,000 hours and 15 years of teaching experience, owned a yoga studio for 9 years and after being run over by a car used yoga to recover physically and emotionally. Silvia leads Alchemy Tours Yoga Retreats and Alchemy of Yoga RYT200 Yoga Teacher Training.

Silvia can be reached on the Web at http://www.alchemytours.com and http://www.silviamordini.com; or via email at silvia@alchemytours.com. Twitter: @alchemytours, @inspiredyogagal; Facebook: Silvia Mordini; YouTube: lovingyourday; Pinterest: Silvia Mordini; Intagram: alchemytours.