When was the last time you were carried away with the sense of excitement -- when you felt so pumped up and involved that time just whizzed by? Your mind working in overdrive, and your spirits totally caught up in the moment… . If you can't remember, my friend, what you need is a dose of enthusiasm.
Enthusiasm is a sense of inspiration. The word comes from the ancient Greek, meaning "the god within." It's connecting to your inner power and bringing energy and excitement to all you do – a feeling of being truly alive and working on all your cylinders. It's that "little something extra" that puts you ahead of the pack. An enthusiastic person is charismatic -- you can't help but respond to their enthusiasm and catch some of their "fire" as well. And an enthusiastic person is a successful person. As Walter Chrysler, the founder of Chrysler Motors, has said, "The real secret of success is enthusiasm. Enthusiasts are fighters. They have fortitude. They have staying qualities. Enthusiasm is the bottom of all progress. With it, there is accomplishment. Without it, there are only alibis."
If you're not getting as much out of life as you should, it's time to recharge your batteries with enthusiasm. Playing "as if" will help you to jump-start this process of developing your own inner fire. Even if you may not feel naturally enthusiastic, anytime you act "as if" you are, you start to take on that quality.
1. Check your posture. Are you slumped, with your shoulders drawn in, your head forward and down? Take a deep breath, draw your shoulders back and down, and imagine there is a string running through the top of your head, like a puppet, and you are being pulled upwards. Take another deep breath and say to yourself "I am vibrantly alive." And now smile.
2. Take an interest in something. Learn all you can about it. Dust off your curiosity and follow where it leads.
3. If you feel caught in a boring routine, stop for a moment and become aware of where you are and who you're with. Act "as if" this is the first time you've experienced this situation, and see things with fresh eyes.
4. Surround yourself with positive, enthusiastic people. After all, enthusiasm is contagious, and it's one "virus" you want to catch!
I'll leave you with some words that are the epitome of enthusiasm -- from the French writer Emile Zola -- "If you ask me what I came to do in this world…I will answer you: 'I am here to live out loud.'"

Words to live by -Knights