Excitement is Positive

To prepare myself to write about being excited, I turned to the dictionary and thesaurus to get a handle on this emotion. After listing all the synonyms, I decided to have a look at the antonyms—to see which direction I leaned, or if I were somewhere in the middle.

So, get your kicks and take a look:

I felt compelled to turn to the dictionary because I’d been feeling less enthusiastic about instigating new projects, or even completing old ones—engulfed in halfheartedness. Since excitement is such a positive, motivating emotion, I thought I’d better do something to snap out of it—since lassitude is so draining of one’s spirit. And no, I didn’t go shopping.

I picked up one of my very colorful books that had photographs of Southwest art and started tearing it up. Selectively. After tearing out the pages that interested me, I trimmed the images I planned to keep and recycled the rest of the paper. Of course this is for another project that I hope to complete. With all that searching, planning, tearing and cutting I’d managed to get myself out of a self-made rut.

Before I could slip back into the doldrums, I decided to try a new recipe—with plans on how to make the results last for the week.

My exercise routine of yoga and weights doesn’t fill me with euphoria, but I’m motivated to carry on with it, as life is more thrilling if I can walk further and speed up my pace. Huffing and puffing is not fun, and is even somewhat embarrassing—and definitely not exciting.

The usual go-to pleasures that send me into flurries of activity are visits with family and friends, road trips, discovering new venues to explore with my camera, and working on paintings or drawings—and being happily surprised with the finished articles.

So, whatever floats your boat, I wish for you—not just calm and serene waters that can lead to doldrums—but waves with a bit of bounce, just to keep you rocking.

[Img.Src: 18 ft Keriki, Sydney, 1923]