Why enthusiasm?

A few years ago, I was in Hawaii on vacation with my husband and 11-year-old daughter. We did one of those day trips to the Big Island to see the Mauna Loa volcano which was in one of its periods of eruption, something we all thought it would be exciting to see. A hot, grey moonscape greeted us - why was I expecting rivers of glowing lava? Of course no one would be permitted that close, but movie images burn brightly for some of us. We walked over odd shapes of dried lava and ashy areas, feeling radiant heat so intense it would melt flip flops.

At one point, a group murmurred quietly near an outcropping. I went over to see what was happening, and saw a small amount of real, glowing red lava slowed extruding from a fissure. It was like watching a giant pour a red-hot lava milkshake, thick and slow and folding over onto itself, and it moved in slow motion down the incline. "Oh my gosh, this is incredible," I shouted, "it's amazing!" For some reason, I seemed to be the only one noticing how extraordinary this was. or at least the only one verbalizing it. Then a number of other people came over, and began to exclaim their surprise as well. What I could not understand was why the first group wa so quiet - weren't they as impressed as I was? Or were they just quieter people than me?

I am known for being, shall we say, lively and exhuberant, but this really did seem special, being so close to this glowing force of nature. My daughter - who was aware of the term Attention Deficit Disorder from school and the news, said, "Mom, you just have enthusiasm-excess disorder." We laughed, and I had to agree, I do tend to get more excited about things than most peple do - excited in a good sort of way. The descriptor stuck, and family and friends refer to it when I have one of my "this is so amazing" reactions. I find that my enthusiasm - for things, events, people, everyday occurances - is often contagious, and can awaken the interests of others as well. There is sadness and pain and difficulty and great darkness in the world, and I am not blind to that. In fact, I choose to work as a nonprofit consultant wiht organizations who are dedicated to doing something about the bad things in the world, because I know that doing something is important and the right thing to do. But I also know that enthusiasm is contagious, enthusiasm is fun, enthusiasm feels good. And enthusiasm matters - in life, in love, in overcoming problems, and in sharing what is joyous and wonderful with others. And I will nor supress it. And so we begin ....