The ABC's Of A Great Life: "Z" Is For Zeal

 A great life demands a great response and a great capacity for enjoyment. Zeal is all that and more. It is more enthusiastic than enthusiasm, more glittery than gold, and brighter than sheer brilliance. It is a single-minded focus of energy that ignores or avoids nothing yet manages to steer clear of the worst detritus floating in the currents of life. Zeal is the zig and the zag of life, the zap of experience and the
zowie of discovery. It is the ability to indulge without addiction, absorb without being consumed, and engage without being entangled. It sticks its tongue out at boredom and exhaustion. It good-naturedly drags doubts along the path, kicking and screaming, yet never abandons them to the dark. It is the energy that yanks you out of bed in the morning and the peace that lets you sleep at night. It is the spirit of life and the ecstasy of death. It is the core of a great life. What provokes your zeal? What dampens it? How can you bring more of the former and less of the latter into your life? Being zealous need not verge into being a zealot, one who has misused the raw energy of zeal to their detriment. By remaining open to new experiences and information and laughing at yourself, zeal can carry you a long way in a long and fabulous life.