Each and every day, we as a society complete hundreds, if not thousands, of actions regularly. If you were to take it down to the literal meaning of an action, it's impossible to go without doing at least 100, and that's if you were to just lay in bed all day. However, some actions are more or less meaningful to us.
One of the actions that I absolutely have to do each day in order to stay sane in this crazy world, although it isn't very exciting, is to sit down, put my feet up and exhale with a great big sigh. As an introvert, being in a role of responsibility as a Resident (Viking) Advisor is exhausting! Don't get me wrong, I love being social and talking with my friends and classmates, but in between my day of classes, the gym, going to work, setting up meetings, arranging floor activities and homework, I look forward to finally sitting down in that chair. Although the physical act of sitting down is a relief, it's the "eye of the storm" calm that is the greatest feeling in the world. It's amazing how clear the world feels after I sit down. I know I have work to do, I know I have to leave again to go to work in the next 20 minutes, but as I relax for the first time in the day, it's like I get to take a step back from my life and look at it from outside. What was once a hectic and chaotic day becomes an organized list of activities that I have completed and have yet to do. The day is not so much that I can't handle it anymore.
On the other hand, the one thing that I never get to do that I wish I could do every day is talk to my family. Over the past four years, I have drawn more and more away from the comfort of my family. With the increasing business of life over the past few years, I have not been in touch with my family like I used to be. At one point I thought that meant that I was finally growing up, and so I reinforced that independence, but now I miss the calls I would get from my family. When my mother would call me at night, I would just try to get her to hang up, but now that I'm so busy at school that I can't even get a call to her, we don't talk on the phone at all. And I really miss that. I've been trying more and more to create connections with my family, but I always feel like I'm apart from them. I guess on some level, I did that to myself, and now I am just trying to get back to where I was before, and the first step to that is getting back in touch with them.
We as a society collectively complete hundreds and thousands of actions routinely, but these are only examples. It's the meaning of those actions, and what they do for you that is important, no matter how small or insignificant they may seem.
