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Contain Yourself!

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Photo Credit:  Bored Panda

After a request for photos yesterday, I thought I’d expand a bit on the wild dog story.

My first trip to South Africa was with a client who wasn’t crazy about working with my company.  Her previous company had just gone through a merger and she inherited the job of overseeing the travel programs.  We were already contracted for two programs when she came onboard so even though she had contacts in another incentive house, she couldn’t change suppliers at that point.  She was professional about this but she never seemed happy or excited.  Now it’s completely plausible that she just wasn’t a person who like to emote but we’ll never know.

We had a large group, bigger than any one safari camp could hold, so we needed to check out three different camps and decide which winners would go in each.  That meant that we had to stay in each of the three camps, one camp each night.  Boo hoo. These were luxury camps with incredibly nice rooms (all three camps had gorgeous indoor bathrooms and great outdoor showers), amazing food and, of course, the safari runs.  You got up very early for the first safari run of the day (think 4 a.m. early) – heavy “snacks” before you left then a massive breakfast when you got back 3 hours later.  Then a late afternoon safari, getting back in the dark for a huge “boma” dinner.  And you’re in Africa all this time.  Amazing.

It was all I could do to contain myself during the trip.  (Actually I can hardly contain myself on any of my trips.  I can’t think of a single time I’ve gone on a site inspection that hasn’t been wonderful.) My client was the opposite; she was doing her job by being there but she couldn’t muster any enthusiasm.  It wasn’t surprising when she bailed on the last safari run of the trip.  When the driver and guide came to pick up the Account Exec and me, they told us that they’d heard from other guides on the radio that there might be wild dogs up near “the cut line” (this is the edge of each camp’s territory.  Guides are not allowed to take their charges into another camp’s territory).  They said if we wanted to try to find the wild dogs, it would take a bit and we’d have to head straight there.  The Account Exec and I immediately agreed.  As we were driving up, we both acknowledged that if the client had been with us, she would not have wanted to do this.

Well thank goodness she didn’t come.  The wild dog pack was indeed on our side of the cut line and it was amazing.  They weren’t too worried about us so we were able to observe them for almost 2 hours.  There were a lot of puppies and they were very cute.  It was a defining moment during the trip, a trip with many unbelievable moments.  The photo above is not mine (long story about where those photos are currently stored) but it is very similar to some of the photos I took that day, especially when the dogs and pups came a little closer to the jeep. The puppies are much cuter than you would think, with huge ears and puppy faces.

Even now, after almost 20 years, I feel sorry for that client.  I hope she enjoyed South Africa, even if she didn’t show it.

What makes it hard for you to contain YOUR enthusiasm?

36 thoughts on “Contain Yourself!”

  1. I find other people’s excitement infectious. I got really excited earlier this week when I found out I may get to do an evaluation of someone with a very rare neurological condition. I suppose that sounds sort of odd, though.

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  2. I told someone recently that I’m never going to be as excited about things as she was. Doesn’t mean I’m not, I’m just not going to jump up and down and clap about it like she does. And we both laughed at that.

    And yet, I figure out some trick or gimmick on the lighting console, or get a tricky piece of machinery fixed and I cackle gleefully. Maybe that’s because I’m generally alone?
    I’m usually not that staid, nor am I a stick in the mud. But I tend to be a bit reserved on most things. Containing my enthusiasm isn’t hard. It takes a lot to impress me.

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  4. I once had a roommate who found my enthusiasm really hard to live with – said it came across as fake at times. I have journal entries from then that make me weep – it was really hard living with her, but I apparently just sublimated my excitement about things at the time. Glad that one’s over.

    I don’t think that actually answered the question, will think more…

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  5. Thanks vs, for elaborating on the South Africa journey. I can’t imagine how many exciting and wonderful experiences that job has brought you. That puppy sure is cute. I still recall your description of your how air balloon trip, also in South Africa I believe, and I can actually visualize it, although I have never been there.

    I get enthused about stuff, but usually don’t show it by clapping my hands and jumping up and down or kissing and embracing everyone within reach. Also, how I express my enthusiasm will differ depending on who I’m with. If I’m with little kids, or even older kids, I’ll show my enthusiasm differently than when I’m with most adults. Again, depending on the adults.

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    1. Yes the hot air balloon trip was magical. And it’s funny because that was the trip to Kenya and Tanzania on which I just barely made the plane in New York and my suitcase did not. And because we were going from one lodge to another lodge to another city to another camp (it was an industry site inspection) my bag didn’t catch up with me until the trip was almost over. I had purchased a pair of pants and a shirt and some socks the first night and was washing the socks and my underwear out every night. But even that couldn’t mar that trip and certainly not that balloon ride. Or the biplane ride. Although I will admit when I got home from that trip, I threw the shoes away. They were completely trashed.

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      1. Ah yes, not South Africa, but as I recall over the Rift Valley in Tanzania.

        I regret not taking advantage of visiting Tanzania when my sister was temporarily the custodian of a house there after her late wasband was murdered. I could have stayed in that house for as long as I wanted at no cost, but I felt as if the approximately $6,000.00 price tag to get there and back would have required me to stay for months to get my money’s worth. Just wasn’t sure I was up for that.

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        1. The thing that was most amazing to me about the hot air balloon was I am afraid of heights. If you had asked me prior to this trip if I would ever get in a Hot air balloon, I would’ve said no. But when the possibility fell into my lap, I thought that I didn’t want to skip this because of my fears. And it turned out not to be frightening after all. And it was just two days later where the opportunity to be in the open air bi-plane fell in my lap as well. That was another experience that I am so glad I did not let pass me by.

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        2. I am finding I have to get my head sort of in a different place to be able to look at a situation and have the foresight to realize the REGRET that might come later is enough reason to do something now. It’s not always easy to see that.

          Spent the morning with a crew doing some video recording for our 2021 Commencement. It’s easier on me doing it this way. The lady who coordinated it all didn’t think so. And I will miss ‘high-Fiving’ the graduates as they walk by our little tech area in the back of the arena.
          Maybe next year.

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        3. What are they doing for the graduation ceremonies this year, Ben? I’m having a hard time imagining the logistics of the arrangements.

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        4. Recorded opening speech by the college president and student president. (That part was filmed onstage so I helped set up for that). Then Herrof Jones will incorporate some sort of individual snippet of each graduate. There are gift bags for the grads. It ain’t much. But it’s what it is.

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        5. YA’s Graduation in May is also virtual so she had to send in a photo. She hasn’t shared any other details with me yet.

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  6. my daughter in chicago graduates in may

    nothin cooking m
    she’ll do a virtual party with friends

    one of her up fairs toon mates didn’t do it virtually and tested positive

    she had to take a week off work ans was pissed so i know they won’t be partying

    she’s staying in chicago hoping to intern with stepping wolf this summer

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  7. What keeps me from showing my enthusiasm is etiquette I know that when I get cranked up and carried away there are people who don’t get it I don’t do a very good job of hiding it so when I’m enthusiastic it shows I’m told that regularly and I get enthusiastic regularly also so it’s a process that has been refined over the years to a point that it works for me

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  8. On Monday we start our trip back to MN. At this point the drive is tedious, and I am not enthusiastic about that. However, I am most enthusiastic about seeing the new kitchen and starting my garden seeds in my cold frame. Last Fall Lou rebuilt our old one because it was falling apart after 20 years of heavy use. I always feel so enthusiastic about start a new season of gardening. This year is no different.

    When the peonies and irises bloom I go wild with cutting and making bouquets because the flowers are so beautiful and so fragrant. I CAN’T WAIT FOR SPRING!

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    1. excellent
      i was in a twist contest back in the 90’s with my buyers secretary and we went from 100 people down to one other couple and us and i choked. i was in the groove foe the first 10 minutes of the dance off
      i didn’t realize how cute his secretary was until that night

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  10. Pingback: Contain Yourself! - Accompagnement d affaires

  11. enthusiasm is some thing that should not be contained
    it should flow throughout your body and come out your brain
    It’s a feeling that makes you feel most alive
    driven by sol and that’s a pretty good drive

    to contain it and muffle it and keep it inside
    is to take your best feeling and then make it hide
    Why would you do that to something so great
    you should let it run free so it can relate

    The world is a open book and you are the pen
    it’s you who determines how what where and when
    so please don’t confine all those feelings inside
    Let emotion run rampant give it a free ride

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