Enthusiasm

Enthusiasm - according to Wikipedia "In current English vernacular the word simply means intense enjoyment, interest, or approval."



This brings me to my topic today about intense enjoyment. A human need is to feel intense enjoyment. Would have to question anyone that does not have that need, but that is another topic. Without saying, when we are intensely enjoying ourselves, we are meeting life goals.

We are happy, motivated, and much creativity perpetuates itself as a result.



Like the company we keep. Jovial, upbeat and motivated people inspire me. Some people may say that passionate may be synonymous. Wikipedia defines passionate as "Passion (emotion), feeling very strongly about a subject or person, usually referring to feelings of intense desire and attraction, be very passionate about something.



Enthusiasm and passion may go hand in hand, but their definitions are different. Am not an expert here, but the emotion of passion can take a positive or negative role. While I am not one to express "passionately" issues that are my own opinions, my preference is to express them down the enthusiastic road. That sounds more positive.



Let me give an example. I sell online as a hobby. I am enthusiastic about selling on Bonanzle.com. My first impression there was the professional humor of the owners. Is there a difference between professional humor and humor as we know it?



Professional humor in business to me is when you take someone that "reads" people well, listens, and then injects humor in the solicitation for problem solving. It inspires me to be enthusiastic. No one has to prompt me to take the gift of inspiration to the enthusiastic level. Just happens.



Never thought of myself as part of a flock, yet one bit shy to say that my opinions should count. Believe that enthusiasm cannot happen unless it comes from within.



Another term that may seem synonymous with enthusiams and passionate is zealous. The dictionary defines zealous as: " filled with or characterized by zeal : marked by fervent partisanship for a person, a cause, or an ideal".



Guess I could call myself enthusiastic and a "zealot".



How we pursue our enthusiasm or zealousness defines who we are, and not what others may perceive. But how does one go about the process of defining the genuiness of these terms when we apply them to people. These areas are as gray as my hair, but human perceptions of body language are likely the best and how well we know the other peron.



Is there any way of guessing the bona-fides of directional enthusiasm and "simply" innate enthusiasm in the written and published world. Do not think so. To write about it and place it into a perspective of ethics is where I have difficulty. Guess that is why we have Supreme Court justices that decide the gray areas of law. As a common person, I would not want to take perceptions and label them. Would I leave myself open to conflicting sides? Absolutely.



For example, if my son or daughter accomplished a great sports feat, most people would be enthusiastic and bellow this out to the world. Another person might be passionate about the ethics of sports and the use of sterioids. To question or write about whether the use of steroids might have contributed to this child's feat without little basis would create furor for those that know the child.



Do not wish to rewrite the dictionary, but find that there is little between passion and enthusiam/zealousness.