I have gotten these two things mixed up forever! I love feeling excited. It's like a drug. It's as if I get a surge of serotonin and endorphin and I have excitement and forgo all reason. Most of the time there's nothing wrong with that. Only, I discovered that sometimes it could be a let down in the long run.
On the other hand, do you ever get those strong gut feelings, kind of like when you crave a certain food. I know I have, and when I listen to them and follow them, they tend to lead me to some pretty amazing stuff.
Lately, I've discovered I was feeling good gut feelings and excitement about the same experience. So, I started to think about the difference in those things. The answer I received surprised me because I didn't anticipate getting an answer at all.
Excitement is a perfectly wonderful and great feeling to have. It gives you those bubbly, delightful feelings inside, but it can sometimes be blinding. So, exercise a little caution before trusting your excitement to lead your decisions.
The good gut feeling, however, is the direct connection to your spirit and the voice of God within you. It is your intuition rising to awareness to direct you in your decisions. It is your true north, so long as you are certain is your gut and spirit speaking to you, and not your ego.
The gut feel is the purest guide you can have in your life, and excitement is just an added layer of pleasure over a good thing when you are following your gut. Learning to trust your gut in the right situations is a skill to develop over time. Enjoy them both, and trust your gut because you can!