SOME HISTORY AND CONTEXT:<\/strong> I first published this essay in 2012, and every year that followed, right around New Year\u2019s, I started to see people on social media re-sharing the original post. So I started re-publishing it every year, changing nothing except the year and the musical artist\u2019s name. And people seem to appreciate it, so I\u2019ve kept it up for several years now.<\/p>\n I have put a lot of thought into it, as it must be the most widely-read piece of work I\u2019ve ever put out there, and it was now more than a decade ago. Sometimes I feel like Mariah Carey probably feels about her No. 1 bestselling song of all time, \u201cAll I Want for Christmas Is You,\u201d which everyone in the U.S. has probably heard at least a hundred times since it first came out in 1994, and it continues to pop back up every holiday season, like a musical Pumpkin Spice Latte, or the McRib, or the UConn women\u2019s basketball team.<\/p>\n You might think the person who wrote this piece is constantly whooping and high-fiving people when they\u2019re out in the world. Sometimes I wonder if I should be doing those things, especially when I read this piece again. I am actually much more chill in person, despite my medically inappropriate consumption of coffee. But I do espouse the idea of Practicing Maximum Enthusiasm. I am generally trying to look for the bright side. and happy for you when things you want to happen happen, even if I\u2019m personally not that excited about new skate skis or adopting cats or whatever. I\u2019m just happy you\u2019re happy.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve written a lot of words over the years, and sometimes I go back and read them and realize I don\u2019t 100% believe something I wrote in 2015 anymore. But I\u2019m still pretty OK with everything in this piece. Especially these two parts:<\/p>\n I started printing shirts with the mantra \u201cPractice Maximum Enthusiasm\u201d on them<\/a><\/strong> a few years ago. Some people bought the shirts, and some people started selling knockoff t-shirts, which of course I am less enthusiastic about, but try to not let it bug me. It\u2019s a bummer, but it\u2019s canceled out by this other thing that happened with the shirts: People started emailing me about wearing their Practice Maximum Enthusiasm shirt to cancer treatment, or to the ICU when they had loved ones getting treatment, or at the school where they teach.<\/p>\n I think a lot about what you want to happen with your art once it\u2019s out in the world, and at first I think most of us just want to feel heard, or validated in some way\u2014maybe get rich, or just a little rich, or a little fame. But as I get older, I have started to think the best thing is when you get to hear about your work helping other people connect in some way, or get through some shit. And we\u2019re all kind of always trying to get through some shit. I don\u2019t know what I hoped would happen with this piece when I typed it out in the final few days of 2011, but I\u2019m grateful it seems to have helped a few people.<\/p>\n So here it is again. I hope it works for you this year.<\/p>\n \u2014<\/p>\n One Saturday morning last October,<\/strong>\u00a0my friend Greg and I were running down the North Kaibab Trail in the Grand Canyon, close to halfway through 26 miles of trail. We had run 4 miles and would run about 4 more to Phantom Ranch, where we could double-fist coffee and Lemmy lemonade at the cantina before climbing 4,400 vertical feet back up the South Rim to finish a hike\/run Rim-to-Rim.<\/p>\n I turned around mid-stride and said,<\/p>\n \u201cHey Greg!\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re running in the Grand Canyon!\u201d<\/p>\n Sometimes I get to do awesome things, and I kind of forget how awesome they are. Do you? I get stressed, caught up in other stuff, and I forget how fortunate I am, how incredible life has turned out to be most days, and some of the special places I\u2019ve gotten to see. Most of the time, though, I try to keep a pretty good handle on it\u2014try to remember to turn around and yell to my friend that yes, we are running across the most famous hole on Earth, and that\u2019s pretty special. Or, you know, even reminding someone a few months later about something special:<\/p>\n Kurt Vonnegut, in a 2003 speech to students at the University of Wisconsin,<\/strong> said,<\/p>\n \u201cI urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, \u2018If this isn\u2019t nice, I don\u2019t know what is.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n In 2025, I urge you to notice when something is awesome, as it often is, and exclaim or murmur or just make a mental note of it. Isn\u2019t it just goddamn fantastic that you have your health, for example? Or running water, or electricity? Or that you have enough money to actually pay someone else to make you a cup of coffee? Or if you want ice cream, you are at any time in America probably only 5 or 10 minutes away from a place that sells some form of it? (Trust me on that one)<\/p>\n Your life, even the bad parts, is fucking amazing. And most of the small things that make up your life are amazing, too \u2014 mountain bike rides, rock climbs, ski runs, sunsets, stars, friends, people, girlfriends and boyfriends, dogs, songs, movies, jokes, smiles \u2026 hell, even that burrito you ate for lunch today was pretty phenomenal, wasn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n What was your enthusiasm for these things last year? I recommend you step it up in 2025.<\/p>\n People can disagree with things like quality, maybe your taste in food, or whether or not a movie is good. But no one can argue with enthusiasm, especially when it is over the top.<\/p>\n Do you think that climb you just did is the greatest climb ever? Great! If someone tries to tell you it isn\u2019t, who cares? \u201cGreatest Rock Climb Ever\u201d is not an objective title. Thusly, when you are excited about a climb (or a trail run or a summit view or a bike ride or a sunrise), don\u2019t let anyone bring you down.<\/p>\n A conversation where someone puts down your favorite ski area\/mountain\/rock climb\/trail\/burrito is not a conversation about ski areas\/mountains\/rock climbs\/trails\/burritos. It is a conversation about that person being a pompous asshole. Go forth and be positive in 2025.<\/p>\n Enthusiasm doesn\u2019t have to stand up to criticism. It doesn\u2019t even have to really make sense. If you finish a ski run, MTB trail or sport climbing route, and you like love it, I encourage you to try out new superlatives when describing it to someone else. This goes for everything you\u2019re excited about. Examples:<\/p>\n Maybe some of the stuff you like love, that you\u2019re passionate about, isn\u2019t cool. Hey, this is 2025. Everything is cool. Irony is either everything, or dead. Be honest: When you see someone wearing a Motley Cr\u00fce t-shirt, you don\u2019t know if they\u2019re serious, or wearing it to be ironic, do you? Do you like Motley Cr\u00fce? Then ROCK THAT SHIT. And spread happiness.<\/p>\n Remember it is not illegal to high-five anyone. Do you use exclamation points in the salutations of your e-mails? Well, why not?<\/p>\n Do you like to laugh? Most people do, don\u2019t they? Including baristas, waitstaff, and retail personnel. Perhaps you have at some point had a real conversation with one of these people. This can sometimes begin by sincerely asking those people how they are, instead of treating them like a machine that makes you coffee or orders your salad. This opens the door to making them laugh. If you play your cards right, you may be able to high-five them at the end of a conversation.<\/p>\n Remember yesterday, when you saw that one thing that reminded you of that one friend of yours, and you thought about how if you sent that friend a photo of the thing that reminded you of them, they would smile? But then you didn\u2019t send your friend that photo, and it wasn\u2019t awesome. Don\u2019t do that again. Here\u2019s what you do:<\/p>\n You may have already made some New Year\u2019s resolutions, to lose weight, to eat better, to read two books every month, whatever. How about making one more, to be just a little more awesome?<\/p>\n [NOTE: As previously mentioned, the shirt in the drawing is now <\/em>a real shirt<\/em><\/strong><\/a> that you can buy and wear if you wish. Or a hoodie<\/strong><\/a>.]<\/em><\/p>\n \u2014Brendan<\/em><\/p>\n SOME HISTORY AND CONTEXT: I first published this essay in 2012, and every year that followed, right around New Year\u2019s, I started to see people on social media re-sharing the original post. So I started re-publishing it every year, changing nothing except the year and the musical artist\u2019s name. And people seem to appreciate it, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11760],"tags":[45636,4788,18249,629],"dealstore":[],"offerexpiration":[],"class_list":["post-96535","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","tag-enthusiasm","tag-maximum","tag-semirad-com","tag-year"],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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