It rained last night and everything around me is in a sleepy state of bliss. Our pets, the air, even everything that God watered seems to be lazily enjoying a fine wet morning. It is not the type of day when you want to jump up and get going. It is a still, quiet, restful morning that beckons us towards a nap. I may do that at the end of the day, and yet I have to muster my energy to get moving.
Muster, that is a good word for the thought of action when what we really want is inaction. Some days it comes naturally and some days you just have to muster, rally the troops, pull yourself up by your bootstraps and get moving. You have to dig into the work, the action, and almost force yourself to get going. That doesn’t mean the work is wrong or too hard, it is that moment when we need to turn off the calls of our restful self and tap into the call from our let’s get it done self. It means action, and lots of it.
Action, hard work over a long period of time, whew! At the time it can feel physically taxing and mentally overwhelming. Doing the work, getting things started, making something from nothing, all of that means hours and hours of action. I like how JKF compares action to inaction. He reminds us that doing nothing, remaining comfortable also has it’s own risks and costs, we may not see them or experience them now and yet they will arrive.
Being active is a choice, one we each make every day. And often that choice is greatly influenced by the way we think, the words we hear and speak, and the people who we let speak into our lives. Sure our schedule dictates some of our actions, the real truth is that we can put off and reschedule just about anything…if we want. And if we want we can do nothing. And some days nothing is just what we should do. Too many days of nothing eventually turn into a big pile of nothing and then we wonder what happened? How did I get here? If we want things to happen, if we want our life to move forward it requires action. And action means we have to choose to get moving, get going and do the work of whatever it is we want done.
So I am taking my own advice, and I am moving towards action today. I have things to do and piles of papers to wade through, so action it is. I can hear the rain drenched nothing calling my name, but it will have to wait for another while. Today I am mustering and moving into action. And I look forward to seeing the fruits of my labors.
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