“E kukupa‘u ana no i kāna hana”
Put all you have into your work;
Kukupa‘u, with great enthusiasm, with might and main.”
—Pukui Elbert
Be excited that it’s Friday.
Friday, and not the day before the weekend, because working on Friday rocks too!
My favorite book in 2009 was an impulse buy while trolling a bookstore, killing time: A paperback that I have turned to daily because it makes me feel so great about being alive, and being able. It’s the kind of book I wish I’d written, and I still hope to write one day, but if that day never comes, I will still be very happy with this one by my side: The Greatness Guide by Robin Sharma.
Here is a great way to approach the day: It’s Aloha Friday, Pō‘alima
From page 78:
Be Wildly Enthusiastic
Ralph Waldo Emerson once said: “Every great and commanding movement in the annals of the world is due to the triumph of enthusiasm.”
Samuel Ullman observed: “Nobody grows old merely by living a number of years. We grow old by deserting our ideals. Years may wrinkle the skin but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”
Enthusiasm matters.
The people I love to be around are generally those that have a simple, heartfelt quality: They are enthusiastic. Wildly so. They are open to life. They are curious. They love to learn. They smile when they see me. And they have a lot of fun. Play hard, or don’t play at all.
Today, show up at work with all the enthusiasm you can genuinely muster. Be outrageously energetic and madly alive. See the best in people. Go the extra mile to delight your customers. See the opportunity for learning and personal evolution amidst a seeming setback. Embrace change as a chance to grow. Have a laugh with a teammate. Tell your loved ones you adore them. Spread some passion. I’ll be the first to agree that you can’t control what happens to you each day. But with an abundance of enthusiasm, I have no doubt that whatever the coming hours bring, you will handle them with grace, strength, and a smile.
Be outrageously energetic and madly alive.
—Robin Sharma
(I took the liberty of adding the links to others in our enthusiastic Ho‘ohana Community :)
Dragon Boy Tru, by Bren on Flickr
You were right, the picture was worth the click all by itself! :)
Years ago a retired reverend used to come into my store once a week and one day I said something to him about “having to work” for some reason while we were chatting and he said that I didn’t “have” to work, that I “got” to work and I should be thankful for the blessing of not only being able to work, but getting to work at something I was good at. Some people never had those two things line up for them. From then on I rephrased it as “getting to work” and it makes a world of difference. Even when I’m feeling beat up by work I still feel like I “get to” work instead of “having to.”
His enthusiasm was contagious and infects me still.
.-= ´s last blog ..What tech can’t I do without? =-.
I enjoyed reading your comment once again this morning Rich, mahalo!
And an Update:
We really do underestimate the power of our enthusiasm…
If this appealed to you – and I hope it did! – Seth Godin wrote a post at his blog today which is an entrepreneurial illustration of Kukupa‘u in action: The lesson from two lemonade stands
Loved, loved this article. I have been accused of being a little “crazy” for being so enthusiatic. Now, I can say to myself….don’t let their negativity “wrinkle your soul!”
Mahalo!
Good for you Connie! If being enthusiastic is “being a little crazy” I’m up for some time in that looney bin with you :-) Thank you so much for your comment.