Subjective Matters

Whether portrayed in a movie, book, or play, the character of an action hero (man or woman) is unmistakably fascinating.

I first noticed this after watching two different action heroes fairly close together. The first was Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and the second was Jack’s character in Lost. As I watched them on-screen, I also watched myself have reactions about the characters. What was drawing me into these characters? What was the source of my excitement, adrenaline, and appreciation around their every move? And then it occurred to me — action. Simply, these characters take action. In the very best scenes, you can imagine the dilemma of a hero as he/she cycles through all of the possible actions that they could take and chooses one course in seconds. Action heros dramatize big decisions that are quickly and gracefully propelled into existence. They are truly acting in the moment.

What about life’s smaller decisions — decisions not dealing with life and death? Don’t they deserve more mulling, pondering, projecting, and second guessing? What I have no doubt about is that the character of an action hero would rise to the challenge of life’s smaller challenges with equal grace. What drink to order at Starbucks today, no problem. Taking care of the weeds in the backyard, done. Small decisions are not without dilemma or deserving of consideration, but what an action hero has, again, is that crucial piece: action. For whatever type of circumstance, an action hero is confident that his current set of knowledge is “good enough” to act on at the time.

But, we can’t do everything at once can we? If we were always acting on things, wouldn’t we eventually get tired? Sometimes taking action means taking non-action. Instead of flipping channels because you’re procrastinating a chore, sit on the couch because you’ve taken action and made the decision to sit on the couch. Even the decision to relax can be taking action, as long as it is a decision of action. After all, at the end of the action drama, even the hero can be seen at the beach in relaxation, or grinning back at the love interest.

Try this: throughout your day, small ideas, chores, cravings, impulses, etc, will constantly pop into your head. Watch for them. These are the could of’s, should of’s, and maybe’s that sit outside your normal path of the day. Instead of letting them go, take action on a few more of them than you would normally. You know you’re not really going to do that load of laundry that just popped into your head today… but what if you did? You’ve always wanted to take a book to that park you pass by every day… what if you did? If there’s something that you can’t take action on right now because it requires more information, or you want to relinquish it to your subconscious, then do so explicitly — take action not to act on that thing which you cannot act on right now, for whatever reason. Your mind will be free of it until which time you are ready for it.

All thought, big and small, can be propelled into action. The action hero is appealing because of the grace and consistency to which they’ve mastered the art of action. That is their wisdom — a deep trust of their own being to make decisions, to take action in the current moment, or to let the current decision completely go, making room for the new creative action that will follow.