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Carolyn Smagalski
Action
Founder - Editor - Host
Action is a prodigious thing. It can propel us into an orbit
far beyond our wildest dreams. Alfred Adler said, "Trust only
movement. Life happens at the level of events, not of words.
Trust movement." Generally, when you speak of action, you
might be tempted to think it has one meaning. Action,
however, comes in many forms.
There is action for the sake of being busy. This type of
action merely wears you down, giving no appreciable result
toward reaching your goals. This is similar to a gerbil
running inside a wire wheel. You know when you are on this
useless track by the unremitting fatigue that permeates your
spirit.
Another form of action is the "spurt." Have you ever seen
race-horses at the gate, ready for action? How about an
athlete, at the start of an event? Or a salesman, newly hired
to sell a new, never-before-seen product?
Excitement and happy anticipation wrap them selves together at
the start. As time wears on, however, this type of action
quickly fizzles if there is the slightest lack of commitment
toward the end result. You become weary. You lose that
drive. You become so tired that you feel you cannot carry
on. This is where many folks lose their dreams.
There is the action taken by a hero in times of dire
necessity, that action displayed by fire-fighters, as they
move into position against an unforgiving conflagration - or
that displayed by trauma doctors and nurses in the wings of a
children's hospital.
This form of action is directed action. This is action backed
by commitment. It is fueled by endurance, by perseverance, by
singleness-of-purpose. It does not see obstacles as
mountains, but as small pebbles that must be swept from the
path. There may be the slightest possibility that failure
can overtake your efforts, but that possibility is swept aside
as the battle continues on.
Directed action needs fuel in order to continue at a raging
pace. The fuel of visualization, faith, burning desire for a
clear result…fuel that does not see failure. Fuel that
continues on, despite the appearance of the occasional grim
reaper or the naysayer or the initial appearance of failure.
There is no guarantee, but you take the leap anyway. You make
up your mind that you will keep going despite the odds because
you know, in your heart, where you need to be. Pearl S. Buck
put it succinctly when she said, "You cannot make yourself
feel something you do not feel, but you can make yourself do
right in spite of your feelings."
Talk to those who have survived a huge challenge, one that
gave little hope for success, but one that was conquered
despite the odds. There, you will find the power of directed
action.
Guard against your fears in the pursuit. Your determination
to get your final outcome is what matters most.
Helen Keller wrote, "Security is mostly a superstition. It
does not exist in nature, nor do the children of men as a
whole experience it. Avoiding danger is no safer in the long
run than outright exposure. Life is either a daring adventure
or nothing."
Content copyright © 2003-2008 by Carolyn
Smagalski. All rights reserved. This content was written
by Carolyn Smagalski. If you wish to use this content in any
manner, you need written permission.
Contact Carolyn Smagalski
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