Excitement, an Elixir for a Sane Mind

by Arnold De Villa
May 1, 2012
Way back before many of us were born, pharmaceutical agents were one-man corporations located wherever their horses took them. They offered panaceas that cured everything from colds to cough and from baldness to infertility. The dark bottles they sold contained concoctions, potions and elixirs,all presented with the unconfirmed promise of good health and perchance better looks. People flocked in for their novelty, at times giving credit to unverified witnesses who testified about the benefits of a cured disease. The atmosphere tried to look interesting. As crowds grew, excitement brewed. It no longer really mattered whether what they heard was true or they were all simply fooled.
An elixir, as dictionaries define, is a sweet flavored liquid, spiced with alcohol, and anecdotally intended to cure ills. Those who succumbed to it were normally swayed into excitement for, a convincing promise of deliverance from an ailment eloquently announced by a salesman with magical rhetoric and a skilled slight of tongue. Ears got giddy. Hope was stirred. The air assumed a perky attitude.
The polemics of this scenario, however,is not meant todelve on the schemes of the traveling med rep nor does it intend to expound on naïve beliefs. The aspired focus, rather, is more on the panorama of excitement that attracts a crowd, that speck of magic seemingly able to infuse some semblance of good health. Modern technocrats would label it a placebo. Yes, that unknown device inserted in an experimental process, an element of distraction, a reasonless reason for a cure, or the secret ingredient of a breakthrough drug that has not yet earned an evidence-based status.
Across the span of human development, the inevitable stress of existence has brought upon us bouts of pain and disappointment. We have wept for the loss of a loved one, screamed against injustice, and suffered from a wide spectrum of chaotic tragedies. Some have coped and moved on while others have failed and fell flat. In the midst of these all, we sail through the humdrum of our daily lives, the long and boring ordeal of the same old thing. The nine to five job, the semestral cycle of school life, kids growing up and teens growing in, the same messed up cold and warm seasons of the year.
Despite all these, it seems that the unspoken and unproven law of positive postures rule above the negative and crabby ones. Irrational exuberance and clinical depression, for instance, are both considered psychological disorders. However, if we were asked to choose which of the lesser evils we would want to suffer from, I can almost be certain that the former would be chosen. We would rather see a smile than a scowl, hear the laughter of joyful stories rather than the endless echoes of miserable tales, and be in the company of excited workers than a horde of whiners and complainers.
“Aren’t you excited? There are only two weeks left before graduation. Soon we will have all these so many things behind us”.
“Of course I am excited. The moment school is over, I can really study to learn and not just to pass these exams”.
And so goes the thread of Facebook messages that internet voyeurs regularly see. But isn’t it exciting though? When the reality behind that word sets in, it is as if the curtain of doom is dispelled and a beam of sunlight peeps through the cracks. When we adopt that excited posture, an unexplained sense of positive expectation, the clouds of disbelief pave way to a hopeful demeanour wherein even certain somatic indications cooperate to produce an overall feeling of well-being. Suddenly, without exactly knowing why, the pulsating stress of fear and anxiety is somewhat reduced. The cumbersome burden of boring routine becomes a more significant sequence of fun and challenging endeavors.
Excitement is indeed an elixir of a sane mind. I would even go as far as to propose it as a therapy to promote a sane and well balanced mental health. After all, I believe that it is simple, affordable, available and seemingly measurable. And therefore, it is undoubtedly possible. Solomon, the gifted Jewish King of the Old Testament claimed that “there is nothing new under the sun”. Excitement is one of those things. Look at a child, a chronic icon of what excitement should be. Even after a booboo or a long day in school, there are still so many things that perk him up and keep him bubbly and fun. As we grew older, it seemed that we got stacked with our age, hid behind our wrinkles, and moaned behind our pain. Everything became a ritual. Life fell into the cracks of a boring routine.
There must be something deep inside us that we deeply desire. Keep on desiring. Whether it is attainable or not is sometimes not the issue. What matters is the attitude behind that dream, the aftermath of dreaming, whether that dream is possible or not. When we maintain the posture of positive expectation, we plug the holes of misery and despair. Truly, it is almost incongruent to perceive excitement and depression synchronized within the same person. Those two are incompatible.
This is not to insinuate that we obstinately linger on false illusions, the traps of reality that lead us and others to an irreparable disease. What is merely suggested is to fine tune our focus on the attitude of excitement, that hopeful demeanour which actually converts a placebo into an effective remedy. Prepare for the worst, but expect the best is perhaps the ideal prescription for excitement in a nutshell. Be excited. Smile a little. I share that with my readers and I tell that to myself.
Back to the times of a medieval countryside…..
The wandering peddler heralds himself in the center of the village square. “Come ye, come ye, beloved citizens. The cure is here. With just a drop of this magic brew, you can be free from all your pain. This valuable bottle can be your friend. This elixir will not make you only feel well. It will also make you look good. Listen to what my friends say. Come ye, come ye….”
The excited crowd fills the square and listens. There seems to be life in the village. Things like this do help them. Not all of them can afford to buy the elixir, the alleged panacea for all their pain. But just listening to the testimonial people seemed to have triggered a positive change. Of course, the cynics were also there. They arrived with a stern face, listened with grumpy remarks and left with a frown. They did not inspire anyone. Not everyone believed the sales spill. But for who listened, they did hear something….Are you excited?