“Enthusiasm is one of the most powerful engines of success. When you do a thing, do it with all your might. Put your whole soul into it. Stamp it with your own personality. Be active, be energetic, be enthusiastic and faithful. . . . Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.” Ralph Waldo Emerson

My attitude has always been, “Why do anything half-hearted?”  I have always felt that if I am going to do something I ought to put my heart and soul into whatever I decide to take on.  But that is only half the battle.  The other half is to take things on with absolute enthusiasm!  Not just to be dedicated to accomplishing the task at hand, but also be excited and enthusiastic to do it.

Having enthusiasm for fun and exciting things is fairly easy to feel.  And summer vacation time is one of the easiest things to take on with passion and excitement.  After all, who doesn’t get excited about vacations?!?  That being said, taking time off during the summer can often lead to the realization that we have a TON to catch up on when we return.  We can handle that situation in one of two ways:  The first would be to come to work with a feeling of dread and being overwhelmed, but that doesn’t sound like very much fun to me.  The second way would be to come to work the morning we return full of ENTHUSIASM, ready to put our whole soul into catching up and getting on top of things again.  Somehow, that option sounds much more exciting than the first option sounded, so I suggest we go with the option of enthusiasm!

Going back to vacations (because that is such a great topic!) I want to point out that sometimes, at least for me, I can get super stressed out with the planning of the vacation and the preparations for the vacation.  Stressed out to the point that it kills the entire fun of going on vacation.  Putting out hearts into planning the vacation is a good thing but at the same time we shouldn’t get so stressed about the planning that we don’t allow ourselves room to have enthusiasm and excitement for the trip.  The truth is that it won’t be easy for me but I know it is important so I am making it a goal for myself to handle it right.  One aspect of planning that all of you could help me with greatly is that I am looking for input and advice from anyone who has been to countries in Europe.  I have taken my family to Rome, Italy in the past but not any other part of Europe.  That is why I would love everyone’s advice and input on what places you would most recommend we go visit and why. Some potential ideas are Paris, London, Florence, Switzerland, and I am sure you guys could give us advice on those locations or even suggest other locations that you like even better.  Thanks in advance to anyone who can give me ideas on this and thanks for helping me put my heart and soul into it without losing my excitement 🙂

Have a fabulous day!

~Amy