Cultivating an Attitude of Excitement

Last week flew up to Cleveland for a good friend’s wedding. While I was there, I realized that I belong to a very small minority of people who actually enjoy flying. Whenever I mentioned my plans for flying back, the response was invariably a sympathetic look and often a comment about what a hassle it is to fly anywhere. I suppose I have always known that I enjoy the whole experience of flying more than the average person, but I hadn’t realized to what extent others allowed the inconveniences of airports, security, and crowded seats to overshadow the pure awesomeness of flying anywhere—be it an hour away or eighteen hours away.

Flying always gives me this great feeling of independence. I love walking through the airport and browsing through the overpriced little stores; I always buy myself a bar of chocolate and a new novel to occupy me as I wait to board. I hardly notice if the seats are slightly cramped as I look out the window and watch the world drop away. And every time the flight attendant announces that we have reached 10,000 feet, I am amazed all over again.

Not many people enjoy the whole experience of flying the way I do, and I wondered why I was the odd one out. When I looked at it on a larger scale, I realized that my attitude toward flying is just one example of a belief I try to live by: an excited attitude makes the world a lot more fun.

Let me give you another example. For the past couple of years, I have been a volunteer usher at a local theater where symphonies and Broadway musicals on tour come to perform. I am always a little shocked at how casually some patrons come dressed to see a show—jeans and a T-shirt is quite common—and how they can saunter into the theater ten, fifteen, even twenty minutes late, seemingly unconcerned. I can’t fathom the mindset of patrons who plan a night out, buy tickets to a show (often expensive), and then arrive so sloppily dressed and, even worse, late! If you can’t dress up for a night at the theater, when can you dress up? There aren’t many opportunities to wear a nice dress and show off your heels—why not take the time to inject a little pizzazz and excitement into your week?

Many of the ushers are not much better. As ushers we occasionally get to see some of the behind-the-scenes action and sometimes even meet performers. I always get a huge kick out of it whenever something cool like that happens, but then I’ll turn to another usher and see that they are completely unmoved. How it is possible to be behind-the-scenes at The Lion King, to see the inner workings of all the animal costumes and stand amongst the chorus as they sing, and not be grinning from ear to ear (and squealing inside) is beyond me. I mean, the ushers are volunteers—we are not being paid to be there and, in fact, we have to pay for our own parking. So you would think that the only reason to usher is because you are excited to see the show, right? Right? I just don’t understand.

The whole thing brings to mind the movie Gigi starring Leslie Caron and Louis Jourdan—a great movie if you haven’t yet seen it. Gaston (Louis Jourdan) is fabulously wealthy and yet everything is a bore and he is forever “filled with ennui.” Gigi (Leslie Caron), on the other hand, is excited by the smallest of things. Gigi breathes fresh life into Gaston’s world by taking delight in things and activities he had long before written off as “boring.”

I guess what I’m trying to say is that a whole world of wonderful little experiences can pass you by if you fail to acknowledge and be excited by their specialness. Eventually even the “big” exciting moments will be dulled because excitability and appreciation are qualities that have to be exercised. If you don’t practice an attitude of excitement on the little events and adventures, you may not be able to fully appreciate the big ones.