Over at the happiness project Gretchen is talking about how she would rather be enthusiastic rather then confident. I want to be both. I want to enjoy what I am doing while knowing in my hart that it is the right thing to do and that I will succeed. This has me thinking a lot about these two states of mind this morning and while I have not come to any real conclutions I thought I would just share my thought proses on the mater and open it up for discussion.
Enthusiasm:
Enthusiasm lies on the same emotional spectrum as a apathy, we either care or don't care about an idea, an issue or an action.
I see this state of mind like the shot of nitrous pumped in to a drag racer to make it go go go. When we are enthusiastic we can not wait to get going on a project a task or a challenge. But like the quick burning fuel additive if we hit a wall or a project is harder then we think our enthusiasm can burn out and fade a way.
On the other hand whne we hit a project hard and fast and meet with success (I want to share a small victory with you: as you may or may not have realized I am a horrible speller. I always misspell the word sucsess (as i just did) to day for the first time I was able to correct it with out the spell checker. I now return you to your blog already in progress) we lay the foundation for building confidence.
Confidence:
Confidence lies on the same emotion spectrum as timidity and possibly arrogance. The argument can be made that confdence taken to far can become argance I am not sure if I belive this my self but it is something to think about.
Confidence is the steady fuel that gets us through the hard times and will give us power when we need it. Like the gas in our cars it does need to be topped off every now and then by seeing results, progress and success from our endeavors.
Can confidence build enthusiasm? I'm not sure, I feel that it can revive lsot enthusiasm when we start to see results in an area that has become challenging for us. This is one question I would love to here your thoughts on.
Gretchen states that:
Confidence has an overtone of posture; also it relates to the way I’m seen by others, or the way I feel about myself.
and while this is true i also think that confidence caries the connotation of the cool quite place at the center of our being were we can act with resolution, clarity and decisiveness.
At the end of all this thinking I still know Iwant both and I now have the mental image of enthusiasm as a hyper puppy and confidence it's master keeping it from harm while letting it learn about the world. Or perhaps a mother bare and her cub is a better image...
So what are your thoughts on enthusiasm and confidence how do they relate and is one more important then the other?
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3 comments:
Hi Quinn,
I sincerely believe.. that one needs confidence to be enthusiastic about anything. If you have only enthusiasm, then first strike of difficulties and the enthusiasm fades away.. however if you are lucky.. and keep on getting positive results.. it helps build your confidence. But then again.. one needs to have confidence to carry the work for longer period of time.
Enthusiasm is derived from Greek from enthousiasmos, from enthousiazein which means "be inspired," from entheos "inspired, possessed by a god. I choose to be inspired which translates to being "in spirit". This is the essence of who we are, we are energy that is "in spirit". When we are enthused then we are in spirit and this is the ultimate place to be. When we are in spirit we cannot help but be confident in all we think, say and do. Thanks for writing this post, made me think.
I definitely feel that the too go hand in hand thanks to mark and Anshu for their thoughts on the matter. With out both elements we will give up on what we do or sometimes never even start.
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