No B.S Friday: You can’t deny what you were made for.
We are all action figurines.
We make sense when we are in action.
You know what I mean by action figurines, right? They still make them, don't they?
You know, something like GI Joe. Some unnaturally buff and macho character with huge biceps and tight-fitting army fatigues.
(That's how I like to think about myself.)
But GI Joe only makes sense in an action context.
That steely eyed gaze, that iron jawed grimace, that wide legged and power stance – all of that only makes sense in the context of a battlefield.
It doesn't make sense anywhere else. GI Joe can't go to Woollies to do the shopping. He can't go into the kitchen and whip up a lovely duck curry. He can't sit on the couch and listen to you talk about how your day at the office was.
He was made for action. He was literally made for action.
In our own funny way, I think we are exactly the same. We are made for action. We only make sense when we are in action.
Obviously we make sense in a much broader array of action contexts than GI Joe does. But still we are being built for action.
You might like to think that you're built for leisure. You might like to think that you're here for consuming cheesecake and Netflix. You might like to think that you're here to lie on the beach and drink cocktails.
But I can tell you as someone who has given all of these things a red-hot go, that's not what we're here for.
Sooner or later, leisure man gets restless. He starts to feel that he lacks purpose. He starts to get bored.
Sooner or later, he starts to crave the action he was built for.
And that's not to say that he's not going to be happy unless he is on some heroic quest with bullets buzzing about his ears. Maybe what he needs to do is join the literacy program at the local community centre and teach unemployed people how to read more good.
Don't think I'm talking about stereotypical action here. I'm talking about action that comes from your soul – that helps you actualise yourself in the world.
But whatever it is, this is the action you were built for.
And I'm saying all this because I was talking to someone the other day who was saying that it felt like life was asking them to do so much. Their life was asking them to live in a constant stream of output and activity.
And what I said to them was that this is what they were built for. You're an action figurine bro.
And sure, and you've got to be able to rest and recharge your batteries. This is one of the most important disciplines there is.
I but action is what you were built for.
Your life will be pushing you – it will keep trying to expand the bandwidth of what you are capable of.
Your soul wants to be realised, and it is realised in action. All we can do is embrace it.
Such is the life of an action figurine.
JG.
Ruth says
Keep on keeping our spirits up!
My friend bought her son a GI Joe action doll. I pulled its pants down and there was nothing there! Not even a little bump. I told her to take it back as it’s faulty. At least Barbie has some bumps. Most boys have bumps there don’t they?
I’m a goal-setter and that puts me into action. But I’m finding it hard to set goals, except, make it through this mess. The future is very uncertain.
I have a feeling we’ll make it through better than others, but it’s going to be a tough ride for the world from here.
Ruth says
Another comment. Block me if you want to. I have travelled little just 21 countries not for long. I spent a week in Greece, where I made it to the top of Delphi. While others were eating at the restaurant (better Greek food here) at Thermopolae. I alone examined the terrain. I know it’s changed, but that’s where the 300 stood. I thought it was just a narrrow pass, but the guts they displayed really impressed me. You are a relatively new Australian. My people came from Germany in 1874 to an abandoned convict settlement (Redcliffe) deemed too bad even for convicts. Other side Irish, earlier, original history we don’t know, although I do know one rescue story from photos but we don’t boast about it. Was all in a day’s work as they built the country. We are Australians now. Are we going to cop garbage and lies? No. The CCP has us in its sights. They can’t win because its dictatorship is built upon lies. Oz doesn’t like that.