Since that day, many years ago, I have sometimes felt that intensity of joy, most often when listening to or playing a particularly powerful piece of music. The sensation such a moment evokes inside me is so incredibly potent that it demands a total physical response -- as an adult, it can be a challenge (and I often fail at) curbing the exuberance so that it doesn't spill over and interrupt the peace and quiet of other, less enthusiastic folks around me.
Flying is starting to provoke that kind of total physical response sometimes.
Becoming airborne after taking off, for example, or returning home from the practice area just before dusk with the glorious sun streaming confidently through a layer of cloud ahead of us, or lining up for an approach that goes well and then actually being able to flare properly and successfully land the plane makes me want to jump out of the cockpit while the aircraft is still on the landing roll, and run across the field with my arms waving in the air, screaming, "I DID IT! I DID IT!!!"
Of course, I usually manage to contain my enthusiasm, at worst letting some of it slip out in an unnoticed smile while focussing my gaze straight ahead and keeping my hands to myself or on the controls where they belong.