Saying Goodbye to 2008

As this year closes, I have taken a moment to evaluate it in its entirety. It had all the makings of a banner year - better than all the prior years. Alas, it has fallen short in so many ways. Its a lot easier to see what went wrong in hindsight though, in all fairness. It's kind of like having the cheat codes to a game or reading the last page of a book first so you know the ending of it all the way through.

2008 had the makings of the good stuff. But, alas, its easy to confuse inaction for exactly what it is - non-moving action. Inaction is not nothing but the converse actually. Inaction is an action in and of itself. The active choice to refrain. You cant have light without knowing dark. Action and inaction are part and parcel as well.

Action and Inaction are really two veins of movement which can often run parallel to each other and which can bear impact on the opposite vein just by its very presence. When you ask someone - what are you doing? They can answer with a synopsis of something thats happening or they can say the all too typical - nothing. They are doing nothing. That expresses it so clearly.

The absence of action, motion, input, caring, interest, affection or leadership is not just the absence of these things. It becomes a new action - inaction, immobile, etc. To simply say, I didn't do THAT is not enough. What are you doing? nothing?!?

The thread of thought in our society that nothing or inaction wasn't a conscious choice is truly fantasy. We choose to put off what we do.. We choose to not act.. to not care.. to show no signs of interest.. to not lead. We choose that vein.

Once you begin to run on that current, however, it takes a lot of action to put you back on the other course. More than if you had acted in the first place.. perhaps even twice as much.

Meanwhile, all the time you spend justifying the inaction, is energy lost to the action that should have transpired originally. Choose the vein you wish to flow in and move through it. Hopefully, next year, my choice will be better.