The Wisdom of Action Heroes II: Deliberate Action
Action heros take action, but what kind of action do they take? What makes their action different from the day-to-day action we typically take?
The key feature of a hero’s action is that it is deliberate. Their action has a specific reason for being — whether that be due to response, passion, or drive. It is clear and purposeful. Even the outcome of their action, while not without risk, seems to be couched in a kind of built in safety net. The main character cannot possibly die in this episode, after all, and whatever hard times they may encounter will only be temporary, as their deliberate action in each will carry them to the final scene. Mistakes will occur along the way, but rather than groveling in their past action, they continue to take action in the “now” almost effortlessly.
What is the nature of our typical day-to-day action? Is it deliberate like the action hero, or is it meandering and often judged by ourself or others? “Did I make the right move?” “What if I did X instead of Y?” “Will I have time to make it?” “I’m may regret this, but..” “Hindsight is 20/20″. “What will they think?” “I should have ordered the steak.”
Our action by comparison seems muddied in generalized fear and suspicion, at times even turned towards our own previous actions. It lacks the concise and definitive treatment that action heroes portray. Clearly action heroes in typical story form are a simple metaphor. But perhaps we can bring a small piece of their wisdom into our daily life to help us be more empowered in life’s actions, small and large. It’s the small actions in particular that are the easiest target for exercising more deliberate action (the large ones tend to encourage deliberate action almost automatically from our inner hero). We do not have to strive for constant deliberate action, but we can strive to write it into more episodes of our life, and triumphantly move from scene to scene.
