How to Be More Excited about Life

"With the physiological arousal being the same for both states of mind, whether you feel anxiety or excitement about a future event is often up to you. Much of it is in the way that you appraise your physiological arousal. In other words, in the meaning you give to it."  -S. Gaskin, PhD
 http://www.coachingsgaskin.com/anxiety-or-excitement-its-up-to-you/.  or http://www.theatlantic.com/video/index/485297/turn-anxiety-into-excitement/

We've had several high-adrenaline events around here lately, both of which involved choosing to be excited rather than nervous.  These pictures look so smiley and relaxed - it might be hard to remember how tense I felt some of the time and how elated I felt when the performances actually went well.

Danny and Mercy and my student, Lenora, performed in a big concerto concert.

2nd row seats 

Mendelssohn D minor, 3rd mvmt.
Mercy opened the 2nd half of the program

Prokofiev 3rd, the final piece on the program

backstage

Danny earned a tiger jacket for his piano work.
His driver's license happened this week, too.

The next weekend, Mike gave an awesome TEDx talk in Tauranga.

Tauranga

It was a wonderful day for me - enjoying a full day of TEDx talks and food with Oak, Mercy and Danny.  I took real satisfaction from the fact that I'd signed Mike up for the TEDx talk vetting process as a Christmas gift.   Mike was the final speaker, so he had massive adrenaline going all day long! I'm not sure jumping out of an airplane would have been any more adrenaline-inducing.

genius MC

giant Jenga game during a break

the moment arrives

Thinking about the fact that nervousness and excitement both produce the same physiological response, and that it's a choice how to interpret those feelings, has led me to muse over the things in life that are commonly associated with nervousness and reframe them.  I thought over the things that I'm "nervous" about at the moment, and reframed each challenge as something I was excited about.  I felt like a more enthusiastic person just thinking about it!  I'm so excited to have another sex-talk with a kid.  I'm excited to make THIS big decision and have THAT critical conversation!  I'm excited about picking the right dates for a big vacation, for my kids to be old enough to make their own choices and mistakes, and I'm excited to stay fit as I get older!

As I coached Mercy in preparation for her performance to interpret the feelings in her body as part of the excitement she'd be feeling, I was amazed at how many well-wishers' comments undermined the message.  I should have counted how many times, in my presence, someone walked up to Mercy and asked her if she was nervous.

Please, people, next time ask if she's EXCITED!

Links to concerto videos:
Mercy's concerto
Danny's concerto

I'll post the link to Mike's TEDx talk when we get it.