Feeling Excited: A Guide to Your Emotions

PUBLISHED Apr 27th, 2021 & UPDATED ON Nov 29th, 2022

I’m so excited! And I just can’t hide it! The 80s jam from The Pointer Sisters gets this feeling sooo right. ‘Cause when we’re feeling excited, we’re upbeat! We’re a ball of energy! We can’t! Stop using! Exclamation points! Excitement usually comes from anticipating something that we are really looking forward to and makes us super happy. It could be scoring tickets to see your favourite band, or planning a weekend getaway with your friends. Maybe you’re super excited about scoring your dream job at an amazing company. Huge events or milestones in your life can also be exciting, like an award ceremony, graduation, or wedding. Clearly, there’s endless things to be excited about! Isn’t that so exciting?!

It’s no surprise that excitement is great for your mental wellbeing. Buuut we like to dive thru any and all emotions around here, including the positive ones. So let’s talk more about how great it is to feel so excited that ya just can’t hide it!

A Deeper Look at Feeling Excited

What does it mean to feel excited? We all know the feeling, but let’s pull up a definition just for funsies. Merriam-Webster defines excited as: “adj. having, showing, or characterized by a heightened state of energy, enthusiasm, eagerness, etc.” No lies detected. That sums it up pretty well, doesn’t it?

Excitement is a temporary but powerful emotion. It’s like a flash of lightning – you blink, and it passes. But when you’re caught up in the moment, it feels ahhh-mazing! You might find excitement from trying new things. Excitement to you could mean travelling and learning about other cultures or ways of life. Or you might find physical activities that bring on an adrenaline rush the most exciting, like skydiving or white water rafting. Starting your own business, performing on stage, and chasing your dreams can bring us a ton of excitement. It makes us feel positive, energetic and boosts our mood. It disrupts our normal routines, breaks up the boredom and makes us appreciate our lives! And that’s the most exciting thing about it, if you ask us.

How Feeling Excited Shows Up Mentally

It turns out, feeling excited and feeling anxious can be very similar. Both provide a rush of cortisol in the brain, triggering your fight or flight response. The difference? How we perceive the situation and how we feel about ourselves! Think about public speaking, for example. Some people think of speaking to an audience as their worst nightmare. They don’t feel confident or sure of themselves, so the idea of potentially making a mistake or looking ridiculous in front of a crowd is the WORST thing ever. On the other hand, some people thrive with an audience, like singers, actors and motivational speakers. It excites them to perform for a crowd and feed off their energy! Sure, they might feel a bit nervous sometimes about messing up. But they perceive the situation as ultimately positive, so that’s how their brains respond! Reframing a negative situation in our minds into a positive one makes all the difference. It takes practice of course, but it’s life changing once you get the hang of it!

How Feeling Excited Shows Up Physically

Excitement has a lot of physical signs, most of which you have definitely experienced before. These symptoms happen when our nervous system becomes aroused and we get a rush of chemicals. Again, the physical symptoms of anxiety and excitement are closely linked.

For one, there’s that whole rollercoaster sensation or butterflies in your stomach feeling that we all love so much. Plus, our heart rate goes up. Feeling excited can also cause trembling, like in your hands or shaking your legs and feet. And like having nerves, your palms might also get sweaty (sorta embarrassing but totally justified). You might experience weakness in the body when you’re excited, too. Ever dropped something or feel weak in the knees because you were just too damn excited? … No? Just us?

5 Ways to Appreciate Feeling Excited

When excitement comes around, it can be nice to take the time to soak in and enjoy this feeling! ‘Cause it really is awesome, right? Here are some ways you can appreciate this feeling while it lasts (we hope it lasts foreverrr):

1. Move Your Body

Put all of that energy to good use and get a lil’ physical! Go for a walk, stretch, ride a bike, dance, you name it. Exercise releases endorphins, boosts your energy and improves your mood. Even though you’re happy AF and feeling all of those things already, it still doesn’t hurt to engage in something positive! Sounds like a win/win.

2. Engage in Compassionate Self Talk

We can be really hard on ourselves most days and fall into the negative self-talk trap. If you ever feel nervous, try to reframe those negative thoughts into positive ones. It might feel silly, but try saying them out loud. I’m gonna use this excitement to give this my all. I’m strong and deserve to be here. I have support. I can do this!

3. Connect with a Friend

When you’re excited about something, it feels great to share it with someone else! Call a friend, send them a text, or go on a coffee date in the park. Talk to them about how you’re feeling and enjoy the moment. We all just wanna feel heard and connected with others, especially when it’s time to share good news!

4. Journal

Journaling is a practice that works for alllll the emotions. It’s a great way to put your thoughts down into words and reflect on your feelings. Plus, who doesn’t wanna look back on past entries when you were feeling super excited and happy?! All of those good feelings and memories will come rushing back in the best way!

5. Practice Gratitude

Showing gratitude for the things that bring us happiness and makes us feel excited?! That’s the best! Gratitude can look like simply taking notice of the good things in life and showing them appreciation. That might involve writing a list of things that bring you joy, volunteering in your community, or showing acts of kindness to the people who make your life better. It feels great for everyone!

That’s all for now, friend! Thanks for diving thru this positive emotion with us. We hope these practices help your excitement stay a while. Spread some of that good feeling around, promise?!