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Puppy dogs and crocodile wranglers

© Kelly L. Henderson

I exercise a pug puppy most days at midday. He spends much of the morning napping so when I arrive he is well-rested and ready for some fresh air and sunshine. As I get him ready for the outdoors he frolics about excitedly, yelping, jumping up, and running circles around me. I struggle to slip his cold-weather sweater on him because in his excitement he can't stay still for even a second. In his mind the lunchtime games have begun and for the next hour his little puppy engine will be switched to full steam ahead.

Once in the courtyard I let him off his leash and he starts to run circles around me. As I walk along he makes bigger and bigger circles, galloping like a horse, covering as much of the yard as he can. He bounds through the crisp autumn leaves that lay on the ground. The leaves are so deep (and he's so little) they rise past his belly. He seems to enjoy the rustling sound they make. He tears through them again and again.

He runs so hard and so fast his little curl of a tail unfurls behind him like an advertising streamer behind an airplane. "Look at me!" it seems to say gleefully. "I'm a puppy! I'm playing! Watch me, I've having lots and lots of fun!"

Watching this happy little puglet at play never fails to make me smile. The energy and enthusiasm he exhibits translate as pure unadulterated joy, and it truly is contagious.

While puppies have no trouble at all showing it, enthusiasm is one of those things that people often find hard to show outwardly. They may be afraid that when they act too excited about something, they look silly. They may also be afraid that they are revealing too much of themselves. When you're enthusiastic about something, and revealing your passion, you're also revealing your weakness, that is, your weakness for pottery, old comics, or bridge - whatever that special thing is that brings you joy.

Exhibiting raw enthusiasm may make you vulnerable to the people who don't like it when you're all excited about something. Your enthusiasm may make them feel bad because they have nothing in their lives that makes them feel that way. They may even make sly digs or diminishing remarks when they catch you all fired up. They want to bring you back to earth with them.

A discussion on enthusiasm would not be complete without mention of one of the most enthusiastic people I've ever seen anywhere, television's "The Crocodile Hunter", Steve Irwin. Now, is this guy enthusiastic or what? His animated face and insistently excited commentary draw you in even if you are not in the least interested in crocodiles or the other exotic or dangerous animals he tangles with.