Action or Inaction

As I was thinking about Rosemarie's post on deposits and withdrawals, I had a number of items going through my mind and tried to sift through them to uncover what was the one thing I wanted to write about. I thought of the things happening in our world, the things happening in my world, the things that aren't happening in our/my world, etc.. I wanted to post some thoughts for us to consider on where we, as collective humans, deposit and withdraw in the happenings in our world.

I decided to challenge our thoughts about action and inaction in relation to deposit and withdrawal. There are things that we are easily called to action to that we enjoy or are typically deadline-driven. For example, it could be very easy to be called to take a bike ride or browse Facebook. These are actions we might enjoy. As for deadline-driven, that's pretty simple - we are called to get up and work, or get up and look for work. We are called to register our kids for school, get kids to school, go to meetings, finish up coding activities to meet a milestone, manage a project schedule. These are actions we might not enjoy, but all consume our precious time and resources, they are typically in the withdrawal category.

But, then there are things we are called to that we choose not to act on or deposit into. For whatever reason, we may have a thought to join a group that is protesting or challenging something we feel strongly about. This will almost always mean we have to make a deposit to that particular cause. The causes are many these days. On the societal front, we may be called to serve the poor, help the homeless, visit the sick, protect the unprotected or marginalized. On the political front, we may be called to challenge political views regarding public healthcare, or education funding, or protection for children (abused, neglected, forgotten about). On the familial side, we may be called to help a sister or brother who is unemployed, help raise our grandchildren/nieces/nephews, support our aging parents as they battle a variety of illnesses. As I said, the causes are many.

The big question to look at is whether we fear action or we fear inaction? I love the saying "Think Globally, Act Locally". It gives me some purpose in pursuit of those things closest to home that I like to act on. Its easy to care for my family when they are sick, or to help a friend who is unemployed. But, to look at that bigger picture and consider who I need to be to really make a difference and change the face of some of these situations scares me to inaction. How many times have I invisibly thrown up my arms and said "nothing will change", yet I haven't really faced any possibilities of making that difference. That then makes me fear action.

And if I were to act at a bigger level with a bigger purpose, then I would have to take personal responsibility for a better outcome, or worse, for a failed attempt. Hence the fear of inaction - that truly nothing will get better for us or for the generations to come.

I was reminded this week of the "Serenity Prayer" God, Grant me the Serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Courage to change the things I can, and the Wisdom to know the difference. It makes me think of where I need serenity, courage and wisdom in my actions and my inactions...

All of this has brought me back full circle to our current series of Blogs: We only have one life, am I living my dash with purpose? What courage do I need to face these big attempts? Do I have enough in place to step forward? Am I willing to Wow the world, Wow myself and truly make a difference and "change the face"?

I invite all readers of this blog to post a comment about those bigger things that you think should be looked at. I promise you it won't be a commitment that you will be forced to take action on - just start a collective dialogue with others to see where it might lead.

Questions to ponder: What are the areas you are in "inaction" about in your life that will truly make a difference - in your world, in your local world, in the bigger world? What presses on your heart that you think needs to have a "changed face"?