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THE LAW OF ENTHUSIASM |
This Awareness indicates that essentially, when an entity begins to stagnate and move through life in a robot type of behavior pattern, the entity also begins to lose enthusiasm for life; this becomes purely mechanical in nature wherein the entity has indulged in all the thrills desired and nothing seems to change and the entity does not progress. When entities move along in actions wherein new discoveries relating to self, new self-discoveries are made, the entity then purges himself of the old and brings in the new energies of the discovery. This Awareness indicates this action increases enthusiasm. The word "enthusiasm" relates unto Spirit within, and the Spirit within is that which enhances the life-force factor. Wherein an entity begins to lose that enthusiasm, the entity's life is essentially stagnating, and as the stagnation continues, the entity begins to lose more and more of the protective aura around the body and around the psyche and the entity begins to lose more and more of the vitality of the physical and spiritual body. This vitality is lost through this stagnation, boredom, and the lack of personal and spiritual growth. The entity's depleted aura tends to draw in the forces which result in illness or accident or further weakening of the spiritual and physical body. This becomes likened unto an invitation to the higher forces, the so-called Lords of Karma*, to take action to remove the entity from this plane. (* See the Law of Karma #6) This Awareness indicates that the Law of Enthusiasm is that Law which allows entities to be filled with Spirit which then, in turn may be used for purposes that can create greater expressions of Spirit and that those who use enthusiasm for destructive purposes are those who shall reap the whirlwind of devastation on many planes and many levels thereafter. |
"There is a real magic in enthusiasm. It spells the difference between mediocrity and accomplishment . . .
It gives warmth and good feeling to all your personal relationships."
~ Norman Vincent Peale ~Many of you may know that I find all methods of divination to be useful and practical tools. Tarot and I Ching in particular. A number of years ago while I was going through a particularly I Ching(y) study phase, I put forth a question to this oracle about the nature of Laughter. I guess I thought my question was a little silly at the time because I assumed I knew exactly what the answer was going to be. However, I was in for a surprise as I discovered from the response that not all laughter was equal, so to speak, in the same way that not all enthusiasm is the same. That unchecked enthusiasm, just like unbridled laughter, can have a destructive element.
Now, assuming that laughter was the best medicine, and wanting to see how this might be reflected as an I Ching reading, I asked the following question: "In what way does laughter benefit health?" The answer (in I Ching language) was Hexagram #24 changes to Hexagram #11 (lines 2 & 3).
The meanings of both Hexagrams was easy enough to understand and pretty much what I expected would turn up -- #24 (that of negativity giving way naturally to positivity) in the context of #11 (the decline of the negative in favour of the positive). However, though the first changing line made perfect sense (about resisting the temptation to entertain unworthy ideas) the second changing line threw me off. Here the line talks about one being wary. Wary of what? I wondered. How can laughter be dangerous? The overall fluctuation mentioned in the two Hexagrams between positive and negative is clearly a direct result of a humorous mind-set acting on a negative one. That, of course, makes sense, but what of this other changing line that very distinctly suggested that laughter itself can at times be the cause of some sort of destabilization. What was this all about?? I was as puzzled then as some of you are puzzled now at reading The Law of Enthusiasm and discovering that something so positive could possibly hold a hidden inclination for destructiveness. After all, enthusiasm, just like laughter, seems like it ought to always have a positive, healing effect, yet... there it is. And the answer is really quite simple in both cases, as you will see.
Here is the conclusion I arrived at after serious reflection..
Sometimes, we try to laugh things away.. to use laughter to avoid situations and what we really feel about them. In this sense, we hide behind laughter, using it like a mask, and treating circumstances superficially by laughing them away. Then of course, there's the repeated effort at continually having a rip-roaring time. But true laughter, like true enthusiasm, comes from deep down inside. It's not superficial and it doesn't surface as a means of avoidance--in other words, it's not fake.. it's not a mask.. not an act. It's real, sincere, spontaneous, total ...
So... that second changing line is referring to laughter (enthusiasm) where the humor (zest) is not healthy -- because what really needs to be done in that moment is actually being avoided for some superficial gaiety. Therefore, there are times when we engage in laughter/enthusiasm that is not restorative, as it should be, but destructive because it is a facade meant to avoid what is really going on inside. Laughter/enthusiasm can become a front for sadness, for instance, just as alcohol, drugs or other forms of escapism serve the same purpose. Laughter/enthusiasm, when genuine, has a way of neutralizing any disturbed energies that are present, by leveling the field, so to speak. It returns us to our natural positive, spiritual Selves.
At any rate. I think there is appropriate laughter and the inappropriate kind. For instance, to laugh at people rather than laughing with them, or to laugh merely to attract a relationship when the relationship is not quite what is right for you. In other words, laughter or enthusiasm with a hidden motive.
When I originally asked the question it was strictly an exercise in I Ching study. After all, I knew the answer to be true and was only going through the motions out of curiosity. However, the exercise gave me a lot more in the end than I had expected to get. Clearly, humor/enthusiasm, when wielded like a weapon, cannot be construed as a healthy means for it cannot lead to the restoration of one's health and/or balance. Therefore, the danger inherent in using laughter or enthusiasm to mask sadness or anger is that it not only keeps the essence of Love that would heal at bay, but that it actually, in and of itself, can promote further injury, and so without the fundamental medicine of Love and its healing powers we risk remaining afflicted or acquiring a deeper wounding as a result, either ourselves or in how we affect others. This is why all forms of laughter or expressions of enthusiasm are not equal to the task. Certainly, laughter and enthusiasm is one form healing and balance can take, but ultimately it is not the form that is significant to our healing as is the INTENT behind the form.
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Reader’s comment #1:
This law seems to me to be linked to the Law of Responsibility. If you are not involved in your own life, an active participant, you become stationary and loose enthusiasm. Enthusiasm and energy are symbiotic in nature...one feeds the other and you gain a purpose from one that defines the other. If each day you do not take the steering wheel in your own life you end up losing your enthusiasm...aka energy...aka purpose...for doing anything. "This rut" or "grave with the ends kicked out" is what a lot of people get caught up in without knowing they are in it; not being in control of self and just blindly going through life day after day doing the same mechanical things as always.
Reader’s comment #2:
I used to use laughter out of nervousness or to avoid dealing with things. Now I see that enthusiasm can be the same thing as an avoidance and mask for the true feelings. This is such a help, now I can pay attention to whether I am really being enthusiastic or just avoiding an issue. The first step to healing is being aware that there is something trying to get my attention so I can deal with it.
Reader’s comment #3:
Back in my home.. when we laugh too much they say.. "stop! don't laugh too much--or you will cry"!! not that laughing is bad in itself, but it attracts us into other problems-where it is not appropriate to laugh.. Everything within limits is healthy, including enthusiasm!!!
Reader’s comment #4:
Enthusiasm keeps the humdrum of my life to a minimum. There's time for seriousness when I need to handle something that isn't funny at that moment in time. That's all fine and good and if I was anything other than that, I'd be fake. There is a time though that I can laugh about something no matter how serious it is. Laughter is really how I gage my struggles in life and my acceptance with them. If I can't laugh about it, then I am not over it. As long as I keep plugging away, I will allow myself to be filled with "greater expressions of Spirit". I almost always see that my problems and any problem for that matter, are small and can be easily taken care of when I/We do my/our part.
Reader’s comment #5:
I agree that there can be a dark side to humor...sometimes it is meant to hurt, say when packaged inside a say a "joke," that really is intended to insult or demean others; when used to manipulate people in a negative manner. Also, many people DO use humor to hide the negative feelings they may be have...esteem or other issues that they simply hide through the jokes, laughter, and seemed positivity...When there is this kind of dissonance, it cannot help but affect the person in some other ways, possibly health-wise or otherwise.Now to enthusiasm and the question of whether the two are connected...I think there MAY be one, but do not think enthusiasm has to involve laughter...I know that I am very enthusiastic about what I am doing profession-wise, but there are times when there is NO smile on my face. In reality, although there are challenges in what I do as with my life, I mostly remain optimistic, certain that things will work out well in the end. Our attitude determines our altitude is one of my favorite "one-liners" and it fits well here I think.
Demitra M. N. :
Enthusiasm needn't be accompanied by laughter, indeed, it often isn't, especially when it's a genuine interest in what one is doing. The pleasure felt is a mix of subtleness and softness that plays in the background of our experience. But that's just the point.. laughter, in "polite society", is too often applied in a forced manner to either steer outside attention TO us or AWAY from us depending on the circumstances. This is feigned enthusiasm because it is not authentic--it's a deliberate manufacturing of joy. Authenticity stays the middle course, as it were, allowing us to "own" our lives just as they are, without the need to "add" something more that wouldn't be there otherwise. Comfortable in the sincerity that our integrity offers, we don't feel the need to fill up natural silences, for instance, with something...anything! lest our awkwardness reveal our underlying insecurities.
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