Aiken’s Character Initiative Enthusiasm

The Aiken Characteristic of the month for March is Enthusiasm. Google defines enthusiasm as an intense and eager enjoyment, interest, or approval. It is a feeling of energetic interest in a particular subject or activity and a desire to be involved in it. It means having an active and motivated attitude instead of a passive one.

Who chooses your attitude? Being enthusiastic is a choice, and your enthusiasm can motivate others to achieve their goals and objectives. I think enthusiasm is good for health and can add to the quality of life. Being enthusiastic about yourself, even about your negative experiences, obstacles, struggles, and encounters, can change the vibration and impact of your efforts and lead to new and positive change.

It is wise to use enthusiasm with reason and purpose. My purpose is to show love and help create a peaceful and positive environment. If there are a hundred reasons to make a person feel sad, there are a thousand reasons to make a person smile.

Enthusiasm in Action

When thinking of a person who displays enthusiasm regularly and consistently, two people came to mind: my South Aiken High School teammate and co-captain, Jake Anderson, and my dad, Howard Bush.

Jake and I connected first on the basketball courts of Kennedy Middle School, and we have been teammates and friends ever since. As iron sharpens iron, so does one brother sharpen another. Jake has been enthused about life every day I have seen him. From jumping up and down after making tackles, to co-hosting the Sports Report, to being an example of how to be a good student, friend, brother, and leader, to now recruiting high school talent to study business at Clemson University, Jake Anderson is an example of what enthusiasm looks like. He is positive, shares a smile, and is always eager, ready and willing to help someone. It is something that is important to him, intentional, and it adds to his impact and support of so many others. Thank you Jake, his mom, dad, and brother for their enthusiasm and love in all they do.

I also have to mention my dad, Howard Bush. From him I learned and witnessed enthusiasm and its impact. His distinct laugh and overall expression and reaction to life and opportunity are always an example of enthusiasm to me.

I often recognize an organization or company that displays the Aiken Characteristic of the Month, and the United Way of Aiken County is an organization that I have witnessed consistently display enthusiasm in its operations. The mission to support so many people and organizations in Aiken County causes the organization to be present and involved in many diverse actions in the area. Rain or shine, hot or cold, inside or outside, formal or informal, the individuals responsible for the completion of their mission are always positive, smiling, grateful, and enthused in their actions. It adds to the effectiveness, connectivity, understanding, and impact on the opportunities they provide for so many in our community. Chick-fil-A on Whiskey Road in Aiken is another establishment where I experience positive enthusiasm.

Where can you positively and effectively use enthusiasm this month? At work, at home, even at Steeplechase, wearing a smile, sharing enjoyment or excitement, enthusiastically telling someone to have a great day — displaying enthusiasm in your actions adds to your impact and influence. It also graces you with a feeling of fulfillment, pleasure, and peace — it makes you feel good. Enthusiasm reduces fear, increases confidence, and fuels passion. But remember to use it wisely. We have the power to speak life into each other and to share good vibes and hope.

We are blessed to live in Aiken, SC. I am so grateful and enthusiastic about the opportunities in this community. The opportunity to live, to develop friendships, to accomplish meaningful work, to use and gain skills, knowledge, and talent, to help others help others. What are you good at? What do you like to do? What makes you feel good? What are you curious about? We all have talents and skills that we can use to help others and to add to the quality of life. I hope you enthusiastically win the day, and find a way, or make a way, to invest in yourself, dreams, and wishes. I wish you a great day, a better week, and an enthusiastic month.


Inspire Enthusiasm in Your Employees

  1. Give them an inspiring purpose. A crucial part of keeping employees motivated and excited about their jobs is giving them a purpose they understand and are proud of.
  2. Acknowledge their work.
  3. Become their advocate.
  4. Help them improve.
  5. Communicate openly with them.
  6. Promote teamwork among them.
  7. Deal with demotivators.
Picture of Byron Bush

Byron Bush

Byron Bush is the Director of Business Development for Empowered Global Solutions, Inc., a certified Woman Owned Small Business specializing in engineering, IT, environmental, construction, supply chain, safety, finance, and administrative staffing & recruiting. He is also the President & CEO of Bright & Bold Entertainment and B&B Network, LLC – a network of people and businesses who help each other develop business, wealth, and leadership. Byron serves on the Board for the USCA Inclusion Advisory Board, Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness (CNTA), Aiken Center for the Arts, Treasurer for Education Matters, and a member of Aiken Young Professionals and the Royal Aikenites. He graduated from South Carolina State University with a Degree in Accounting, played on the SCSU Football and Golf teams, and joined the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Byron was born in Ellicot City, Maryland, raised in Aiken, SC, and he works to make every day a great day.
Picture of Byron Bush

Byron Bush

Byron Bush is the Director of Business Development for Empowered Global Solutions, Inc., a certified Woman Owned Small Business specializing in engineering, IT, environmental, construction, supply chain, safety, finance, and administrative staffing & recruiting. He is also the President & CEO of Bright & Bold Entertainment and B&B Network, LLC – a network of people and businesses who help each other develop business, wealth, and leadership. Byron serves on the Board for the USCA Inclusion Advisory Board, Citizens for Nuclear Technology Awareness (CNTA), Aiken Center for the Arts, Treasurer for Education Matters, and a member of Aiken Young Professionals and the Royal Aikenites. He graduated from South Carolina State University with a Degree in Accounting, played on the SCSU Football and Golf teams, and joined the Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, Inc. Byron was born in Ellicot City, Maryland, raised in Aiken, SC, and he works to make every day a great day.

In the know

Related Stories

Served: A Back and Forth between Matthew Wynn and Paige Rabon | Aiken Bella Magazine

Served: A Back and Forth between Matthew Wynn and Paige Rabon

M: A club? I don’t mean to be backhanded, but why go to a club? P: A club brings people together and provides an environment perfect for exercising and having fun with friends. In good company, time passes quickly and any activity is more enjoyable. M: So I’d have to … do stuff. Like what? P: Swimming is a whole body activity, using all muscle groups. It builds strength, endurance, and aerobic fitness. Organized swimming provides skill practice and aerobic activity while having fun with friends, but even casual swimming is beneficial. M: You do realize it’s winter? P: Even though it is hard to think of temperatures warm enough

Read More »
Importance of Fitness | Resolve | Aiken Bella Magazine

Importance of Fitness | Resolve

The broken man awakens. His battered body rises from a shoddy bed and staggers to the opposite side of a one room log cabin. Coals glow in the fireplace but the air is cold. On the dresser mirror the man finds a photograph. It captures his attention. His mouth falls open but he doesn’t speak. His face is fierce and unafraid, but in his eyes there is doubt and fear. If he is going to defeat the man in the picture, he has to be stronger. He has to be faster. He has to be better. He races outside into the snow covered mountains of somewhere in Russia, and cuts

Read More »
Healthy Goals | Resolute This… | Aiken Bella Magazine

Healthy Goals | Resolute This…

Happy New Year! Now that Christmas is packed up for another year — well, at least the decorations — we can focus on another time-honored tradition. New Year’s Resolutions. For most, those resolutions don’t change from year to year. Eat and drink healthier, lose weight, save more money, spend less on dumb stuff, and (here’s the big one,) make more quality time for family and friends. Typically, when the year is over, we discover we ate and drank the same, found whatever weight we may have lost, and spent what we should have saved on impulse stuff to help us improve our diet, lose weight, and help us keep our

Read More »
Generosity + Impact | Aiken Bella Magazine

Generosity + Impact

The Aiken Characteristic for the month of December is generosity. Generosity is the quality of giving more than what is strictly necessary or expected. Why is being generous important? To whom much is given, much is required. When we are blessed, it is our duty to bless others. Generosity is the opposite of selfishness. Generosity is love in action. It is kind. It is forgiving. It holds no record of wrong. It is nonjudgmental and delights in honesty. Universal law says what you put out is what you get back; at the same time, generosity is giving with no expectation of return. Generosity in Action When I tried to think

Read More »