How do you rediscover the enthusiasm of your childhood? The answer, I believe, lies in the word itself. “Enthusiasm” comes from the Greek and means “God within.” And what is God within is but an abiding sense of love proper love of self (self-acceptance) and , from that, love of others.

Enthusiastic people also love what they do, regardless of money or title or power. If we cannot do what we love as a full-time career, we can as a part-time avocation , like the head of state who paints, the nun who runs marathons, the executive who handcrafts furniture.

Elizabeth Layton of Wellsville, Kan was 68 before she began to draw. This activity ended bouts of depression that had plagued her for at least 30 years, and the quality of her work led one critic to say, “:I am tempered to call Layton a genius.”

We can’t afford to waste tears on “might-have-beens.” We need to turn the tears into sweat as we go after“what-can-be.”

We need to live each moment wholeheartedly, with all our senses——finding pleasure in the fragrance of a back-yard garden, the crayoned picture of a six-year-old, the enchanting beauty of a rainbow. It is such enthusiastic love of life that puts a sparkle in our eyes, a lilt in our steps and smooths the wrinkles from our souls.



怎样才能找回孩提时代的热情呢？我相信答案就在“热情”这个词本身。“热情”一次源于希腊语，愿意是“内在额上帝”。这里所说的“内在的上帝”不是别的，而是一种持久不变的爱——恰当自爱（自我接受），并推而及于他人。

热情的人们同样热爱他们所做的事，而不是考虑钱、位、权。如果我们不能把热爱的事作为正式职业，我们也可把它当作业余消遣：比如有国鲜花首喜欢画画的，有修女参加马拉松长跑的，有行政官员手工制作家具的。

堪萨斯州威尔斯威尔市的伊丽莎白-莱顿到68岁才开始画画。这一爱好消除了曾纠缠她至少达30年之久的忧郁症。而她的作品水准之高使得一个评论家说：“我忍不住要称莱顿为天才。”伊丽莎白又找回了她的热情。

我们不应该把眼泪浪费在“早该”之类的后悔上。我们需要把眼泪化为汗水，去追求“可能”之物。

我们需要以全副身心去度过生命中的每一分钟——在后花园的芬芳中、在6岁小孩的蜡笔画中，在彩虹醉人的美中找到快乐。正是这种对生活的热爱，让我们双目有神，让我们步履矫健，让我们灵魂的皱纹展平。