Enthusiasm can be dangerous to your well-being. I have been a supreme enthusiast for a big part of my life. My enthusiasm has come in my way in more ways than one.

MIND YOUR TALENT

One area we are most enthusiastic about is exercising our beloved craft. It’s a deep self-expression and the surest way to bliss. Contrast this with what Lao Tzu, the founder of one of my favorite philosophical paths – Taoism says:

Do not display your talent to the world or you will find yourself occupied for a lifetime.

From my teenage, I was a very talented public speaker. I would do exciting speeches in our local Lions Club. My talent was not just lauded but also deeply remembered. So much so that I was now invited to compere merry functions at homes of our family and friends. I wasn’t always excited but how can one gather the heart to say no to earnest near and dear ones? Few months down the line, it all became a burden.

SPONTANEITY ON DEMAND

Your craft is fun only when it is spontaneous.

How can you come up with your craft on demand and yet keep it fun every single time? Only the performer knows how big a burden performance can become. Particularly when you have to match or better your own standards every single time. I am a trainer by choice and I know the agony of getting myself to speak the same curriculum a dozen times. Luckily for me, I find my own ways of spicing it up for myself and the audience, but it doesn’t mean it’s all rosy.

I can’t do without the fulfillment that comes through exercising my talent but that doesn’t mean it is not a trap. I sometimes crave for a simpler life where I would have never nurtured this time-consuming talent but done a hundred other smaller things that would have been equally heartening to the soul