Excitement and Encouragement

One thing troubled me when I was younger. How can I communicate enthusiasm effectively? How can I infect others with the excitement I feel? It sounds silly. Like the comedian who agonises over whether he is funny. But there is a serious point to it.

This is where encouragement fits into the picture. We all crave attention. If we can't get positive attention, many of us, from childhood have settled for negative attention. At least it gets you noticed. And everyone else suffers from the dysfunctional ripples. Fortunately, that doesn't have to be the end of the story.

Many of us who trained as teachers learned about behaviour modification through praise. People who crave attention lap up praise. But there's a catch. Play-acting (or to give it a longer name: hypocrisy) does not work.

They say that, in ancient Rome, when sculptors made a mistake, they would cover over their chipped holes with wax, mixed with dust from the original stone. It looked marvellous - until the sun beat down upon the statue and revealed it for what it was - imperfect, broken. So, the word sincere (sine cera - without wax) was born.

For this reason, the Apostle warns us: Love must be sincere. Praise must come from the heart, enthusiasm has to be real because phony excitement and half-hearted praise will be seen for what they are when exposed to the elements.

For me, the tension eased up hen I realised that the important thing was not to play at being enthusiastic. But to be myself - the excited person onsumed with a genuine love for his subject and his students.