Action - a free-write

‘Tis the season for free-writes. As spring turns into summer, priorities change. Suddenly the temptation to be outside is what matters most. The writing suffers because something must. The world is full of writers who do not write.

But then there is action, the sweetest nectar of the gods. Action is a sports bet, a friendly game of pick-up basketball, a casual game of poker, Catan, Monopoly, FIFA…whatever. Action is what you remember. Anything that has a clear winner and loser is action. Action could even be the very attractive brunette sitting at your 10 o’clock. As they say, the game is always afoot.

Winning, I believe, is the cure for just about everything. Any time someone comes to me for a prescription, I prescribe more winning. Winning makes life better. It extends your life, raises your quality of life, lowers your cholesterol, cures cancer, and makes you a foot taller. That’s winning. That’s the power of action.

But once you get a taste of winning, nothing else will do. And unfortunately, winning is hard. To win and win consistently is the hardest thing to do. Very few can do it, and the ones who can are immortalized. Tiger Woods did not miss a cut for 10 years. Michael Jordan won 6 championships in 8 seasons. Lebron James made the Finals 8 straight times. There is a reason you know these names; they are the winners. That's winning. That’s action.

Then there's losing. It's the worst. It makes breathing harder, drains your appetite, ruins your day, and definitely raises your cholesterol. Part of the reason I only prescribe winning. Losing sucks.

Here comes the big hairy “but.”

But losing has something that winning can only dream about, inherent motivation. If you love action, then you hate losing, and if you hate losing it must mean that you lose a lot. That is just the nature of action, you lose a lot even if you lose a little. The losses feel bigger. That's action. that's losing. You only really lose when you give up, and winners never give up.

Winning and losing, losing and winning. Those are the only outcomes when you engage in action. Losing sucks, but it motivates you. Winning rules, but it takes away your hunger (hence why it lowers your cholesterol). The two go hand in hand but all fall under the umbrella of sweet, simple action.

I have often thought that the way to get on a roll on any given day is to set yourself up with easy wins. Preplanned and premeditated wins. They feel so real you won't even be able to tell the difference.

Something to think about the next time you want to get on a roll.