Living an Exuberant and Joy-filled life is rooted in doing what we want to do. This post was prompted in large part by a comment to a previous entry..

For many, finding what we want to do requires that we discover/uncover why we do the things we do. Some things we do for ourselves, some for others, and some because we believe others want us to do them. Anything we do that allows for Exuberant Joy in the process of doing it leads to an Exuberant life. So what about the things we do for others that don’t feel like that?

This gets us one step deeper into understanding the Exuberant Life.

A child needs comforting in the middle of the night. A friend calls at an inconvenient time and needs help right now. A parent asks for something you don’t like doing. A co-worker you don’t much like asks for a favor. A stranger asks for money. The driver of another car needs to get your lane and there is no space. None of these are things we’d choose for ourselves in an Exuberant sense, and all are things we’d most likely do.

Doing any or all of these things can be made or transformed into Exuberant acts even as none of them initially are. Do I want to be a good parent, do I want comfort a child? Do I want to be helpful to my friends? Do I want to help my parents (as they’ve helped me)? Do I want to be a good person? Do I want to be a generous person? Do I care about others or the flow of traffic?

To all of these, I say yes. Feeling driven to to things that are not what I would choose in an Exuberant sense, so why do I do them and what has this to do with Exuberance?

If my child seeks comfort in the middle of the night, I realize that their world is scarier than mine and want to be the person who can make things right. If I succeed, there is no better feeling in the world to be the conqueror of fear.

I could give examples for each of these, but the point is the same for all. If I do a thing that is good for another, the very doing of it changes the act into one of Exuberance: I think “I got to do this” and transition into “I am doing this” and end with the thought “I did this.”

The thing that begins as a chore or a duty becomes something wondrous that I can do.