Have you ever been at a restaurant, stomach growling, counting down the minutes until your food arrives? You tell yourself to be patient, but every time the waiter emerges from the kitchen carrying a steaming plate, your heart leaps with excitement. Finally! But just as quickly as the excitement rises, it vanishes—because the food isn’t for you. You sigh, look longingly at your empty table, and try to act casual as your hunger pangs grow stronger.
I’ve been there more times than I can count. And let’s be honest, there’s a special kind of disappointment that comes with watching other tables get their food before you. At first, you smile politely, thinking, My order must be next. But as more and more dishes go past you, you start questioning your life choices—Did they forget my order? Should I call the waiter? Am I about to starve in a restaurant full of food? The emotions swing wildly from excitement to despair, all in a matter of seconds.
This rollercoaster of emotions? That’s effervescence in its purest form—bubbling energy, bursts of enthusiasm, and uncontainable reactions to life’s smallest moments. And you know who experiences this all the time? Kids.
Kids have an extraordinary way of making even the simplest things feel like the greatest events in history. Give a child a balloon, and suddenly, it’s the most precious treasure in the world. Watch their face light up when they see a dog, even if it’s the hundredth dog they’ve seen that day. Hand them a tiny chocolate, and you’d think they just won a grand prize. Their enthusiasm is unfiltered, pure, and infectious.
A few days ago, I saw a little boy at a grocery store clutching a pack of colorful stickers like it was a bag of gold. He ran up to his mother, jumping up and down, shouting, “Look! Stickers! STICKERS!” His mother, probably exhausted from running errands, gave a tired nod, but the child didn’t care. For him, those stickers were the best thing in the world at that moment.
Somewhere along the way, as we grow older, we lose this natural enthusiasm. Things that once excited us become normal or routine. The magic fades, and we start taking moments for granted. We stop bouncing with excitement over little joys, and instead, we become too “mature” to express happiness freely.
Think about it—when was the last time you clapped your hands in excitement? Or jumped up and down just because you were happy? Kids do it all the time, but as adults, we hold ourselves back, afraid of looking too excited or too silly.
Life is too short to suppress our excitement. Whether it’s food arriving at a restaurant, finding a forgotten chocolate in your bag, or watching your favorite movie for the tenth time, allow yourself to feel the joy. Be like a child who finds happiness in the smallest things, because in the end, these tiny bursts of excitement make life beautiful.
So the next time you’re at a restaurant, eagerly waiting for your food, embrace the experience—laugh at the disappointment, celebrate when your dish finally arrives, and maybe, just maybe, let yourself clap in excitement.
Because life is better when you let your enthusiasm bubble over.
Stay effervescent!