Enduring Enthusiasm

“Few things are worse than running in the wrong way enthusiastically.”
— Lee Brower

“Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson, Circles, 1841

Emerson was right. But here’s what he didn’t say. “It is unfortunate, considering that enthusiasm moves the world, that so few enthusiasts can be trusted to speak the truth.”
— Arthur Balfour, 1900

Nearly sixty years later, Balfour named the problem. Enthusiasm without truth isn’t a gift — it’s a counterfeit. And counterfeits don’t just misinform. They crowd out the real signal.

The ancient Greeks called it en theos — God within. A quiet, persistent pull toward what you were made for. Not performed. Not manufactured. Received.

Which means the most dangerous thing we can do to someone we love is layer our enthusiasm on top of theirs — and drown out the voice already speaking inside them.

“Hype seeks applause. Enduring Enthusiasm develops people.”
— Lee Brower

This week’s Monday Morning Message is about learning to tell the difference — and asking an Empowering Question you may have never thought to ask before.