Whenever we have the opportunity to meet someone, we are always impressed by their vivaciousness, their so-called vivacity, how their eyes sparkle, the firmness of their handshake, and how they make you feel like you’re somehow wanted, appreciated,
that you are truly special. And in the world today, there seems to be so much doom and gloom, if I could put it this way. We watch social media, we watch the news. Gosh, there’s lots and lots of pain.
But in reality, there’s a lot of joy. But I think we as human beings have to find a way that we convey this.
Many years ago, when I was a student, I lived for a time in Paris, and I think the Parisians and in turn the French, these people have to be the most vivacious people that one could ever meet, because they seemingly were alive, truly alive.
And later, perhaps I had experience with other Europeans, also, a lot of people in Europe really are excited about life. But you ever notice that the people that are vivacious, they have this intrinsic, I guess you could say, mental quickness.
I mean, there’s something about them, and they’re emotional for sure, but this quickness is incredible. And they have this laser focus on you. You seem to be at that moment the most important person in their lives, right?
The most important. And it’s kind of like a sense of warm expressiveness. They embrace you, they kiss your cheeks, which is an alien thing for me at 19 years old, gosh, but they really seem to care.
And you ask yourself, how are some people like this, and yet other people are profoundly sad? Like, why is this the case? Well, we’re taught in English to divide the world effectively into two camps.
The one camp being the more formal camp, people I don’t know, right, perhaps my boss or someone of authority, and people that I do know. And the people I don’t know, I can express myself in the most positive of ways. Leon, how are you today?
Oh, I’m fine, boss, thank you. You look a little sick. Boss, I’m a little bit under the weather, but it’s nothing serious.
I will be fine. And to my loved ones, perhaps my friends, my family, I can say, oh, gosh, I’m sick, et cetera, et cetera, right? But I think the Europeans, as I was describing from before, the Europeans are naturally alive.
So the formal side is the true one. They are happy people for the most part, not all for sure. So why does this kind of vivaciousness enhance your personality?
I always wonder this question. Well, I think most importantly, it makes ideas memorable in that sense, doesn’t it? So when you’re speaking to people, you feel truly alive at that moment, and there is always more money than ideas, right?
So you are unique when you’re coming up with ideas, and it creates this kind of connection. Now, I know that when one is young, the connection is made a lot easier, but gosh, I’m almost 70 years old.
In the last summer as we were walking, we met a lot of lovely people, and we connected virtually immediately. And I think a part of it is that I forgot that I was old.
I watched Morgan Freeman the other day being interviewed, the famous black actor, and he said, just forget age, just forget it. That’s how you stay young. And tell your story.
This is a vivacious moment when you’re telling your story about what life is, where it goes, what is happening, right? Because all of us are walking the path of time, aren’t we?
We’re all walking towards that moment that we no longer have time in this reality. So why not have some sparkle and some joy to life?
I just don’t think it’s necessary to get pulled to the bottom and be continuously sad about the world that we live in, the noise, the traffic, the anger, the attention towards material possessions, perhaps.
We should try to elevate ourselves beyond that. We actually can practice vivacity.
I think this is something interesting. So, if you think to yourself, when you wake up in the morning, what’s the very first thing that you should do if you really want to sparkle in your life? And I think the first one is, of course, gratitude.
I’m so lucky to be me. There’s no one like me. There never has been and there never will be.
So, I’m grateful that God has given me me, so to speak. Then, I think I’m capable of an activity and the first activity, I think, that must come to mind is to make one’s bed. Why?
Well, if you make your bed, it gives you a sense of discipline and it also closes the night and it opens the day, the new day. And then, of course, document, document your thoughts in your notebook.
But of course, all you have to do is record the day and the date. That’s the minimum you have to do. And nothing else if you don’t want to, right?
Nothing else. And then push on with your day. Have your wash, your shower.
And if you’re going to have a shower, to give yourself a little bit of sparkle, have a cold shower. Now in the wintertime, of course, this is really unpleasant. I have my own technique.
I start with my head and then I lower the nozzle, the faucet, onto the rest of my body. But I have to start with my head, because it doesn’t seem to feel the cold like the rest of the body does.
And apparently that’s quite true, because the only area of your skull that’s actually sensitive is the hair and the bit of flesh that’s right onto the bone, so to speak. Right?
And then after you finish with your wash and you towel down and you’re putting your clothes on, remind yourself to stand up tall. Stand up and make an attempt to be upright as you proceed further.
And there is a concept of then, because now you better be awake at this point, that you’re going to start to practice alertness. You’re going to look, this is what Sadguru said all those years ago, when I went to that yoga conference in India.
He said, observe, observe the bugs, the bees, the ants, other people, observe. And then, as you observe, and there are people close to you, speak out. Talk to people, express your thoughts, not in a terrifying sense, but just express them.
And people will respond. This is in a sense why I absolutely love teaching, because you learn far more from your students than you could ever give back. So true, right?
They teach you so much. And I think, then, it’s really important to begin to document the day, document your time, isn’t it?
Because time and temporal time is finite. There will be a transcendence at some point in everyone’s life.
And how you deal with that, why am I here, what’s my mission, what happens when I leave here, will produce a very positive psychological state, right? You won’t be wishing for something, immortality in this sphere.
You perhaps have immortality in the celestial sphere. That’s a totally different reality, I think, for most of us. So we ultimately end up with the thought that the viciousness is not a contrived phenomenon.
It should be from your heart.
You should really be thankful that you’ve been given existence and you can go forward and given your givings, I am a man, I am almost 70 years old, certain amount of money, certain amount of intelligence, I do have two children, everything else is
possible, truly possible within reason. And of course, one’s mission in life is to do good for the society, so the society then can move forward.
So think to yourself, the next time you awaken, show gratitude, have a cold shower, make your bed right in your notebook, and try and live that spontaneously joy-filled life, filled with ferventiousness.
And you know what they say, you know what they say, critical thinking is necessary, especially if you’re going to live a vivacious life, and critical thinking is great. You take care, be happy, God bless, bye bye.