Enthusiasm Is Inspiring

Enthusiasm enables you to stay "in-Spirit" or inspired. And just like anything else (including excuses), the more you access and hold on to enthusiasm, the more it becomes a habit.

The best thing about this particular habit, however, is that it's always accompanied by joy and happiness. To that end, James Baldwin once wrote that "fires can't be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men."

The best way to keep your passion alive is to make your number one relationship in the world be that between you and your Source of being. Stay in a state of wonderment and bewilderment over everything and everyone you encounter.

Go through life being continuously grateful and appreciative - give thanks for all of nature and the multitude of miracles you see appearing before your eyes each and every day. This is a daily practice for me, and it's the most prominent factor I can identify for keeping my zest for life alive and well.

I'm in awe of this entire business that we call life. I sit here writing, yet not having a clue about how it all takes place. Words appear on the page from no where and suddenly they are now here. Where did they come from? Is someone guiding me?

And what about those trees outside my window, or that tiny little creature crawling across the page of the book I just opened, which have the same life force in them that I have in me? And those stars and galaxies out there... are we alone in this vast, endless universe?

I could go on and on writing about the gazillion things there are to be passionate about. The point is that there's no shortage of things to inspire us. And by staying in this space of wonderment, bewilderment, and especially gratitude, we feel the excitement of being alive. This is a far different stance from the one that exists when we rely on excuses to explain our life's deficiencies away.

The longer I live, the more I'm content to allow unseen powers work their magic with and around me, and the less I question any of it. I have relinquished the notion that I'm ever separate from the all-knowing mind of the universe.

In this state of awe, I feel passion all the time. I don't need to do anything - I feel it in every face I look into and in every star-filled night and blossoming flower I observe. My greatest moments of enthusiasm occur while trying to think and act like the all-knowing, benevolent Source of everything does; when I let go of ego, I'm most able to maintain my passion.

Lao-tzu once observed: "If your willingness to give blessings is limited, so also is your ability to receive them. This is the subtle operation of the Tao."

Your own willingness to give blessings can be totally unrestricted. By staying aligned with the way the all-creating Tao works, you maintain an exceptionally high level of enthusiasm, and it all seems to make so much sense. When you stay aligned with God and think like God thinks, you act as Good seems to act. You live in-Spirit-and with enthusiasm.

- Excuses Begone! by Dr. Wayne W. Dyer