Getting Excited

Maybe it's just the circles I have run in, especially the world of academics, that gives me this impression, but I have found that it doesn't seem very "cool" to get excited over something. I don't mean getting excited in an angry or pessimistic way. That is totally cool. What I mean is getting excited because you are joyful about the present and future of something.

It seems that the moment someone gets excited about something, there is someone nearby to temper that enthusiasm, either with negative words about whatever it is, or a joking sarcasm that somehow the person has gone over the top. I think this happens in the world of music a lot, when someone discovers a new band or a new song and when they share it with someone else, that person downplays the goodness of the music. Maybe they even make fun of the first person because they have gone overboard. I have been on both sides of this. My apologies to early Justin Bieber fans.

I find that this happens so much that we are almost afraid to get excited about something. It's probably a defense mechanism, but if we are excited about something going on in our lives, maybe a new project that we are working on, maybe a new relationship in our lives, we almost automatically downplay our excitement when we tell someone else about it. It is probably fear of ridicule that causes us to do this.

But this robs us of our chances to be really happy about things in our lives. What a joy it is to find something new and enjoy it and not worry about how other people might react. What a joy it is to work toward something and see some fruit of your labor and just be happy in the moment that you reflect on what you've done.

And what a joy it is to just be happy about where you are! There's no shame in being excited about your life, your home, your church. There's no reason to fear being thought "uncool" because you are too enthusiastic about something you love. There is no joy in pretending that you don't really like whatever it is as much as you do so you won't seem weird or naive. This doesn't mean to willingly ignore the junk of life, but don't be ashamed of being happy in your work, your place, your church, your life.

If we need anything, we need more joy in the world. We need to give ourselves and others permission to just be excited about something we love or enjoy. Just be happy about it.

That's my view today...