Tag Archives: action

Quoting: Joyful Zrizus

Some people might take action, but with resentful zrizus. “I shouldn’t really have to do this,” they say to themselves. “Someone else should take care of this.”

There is a well-known idea expressed by the late Rabbi Chaim Friedlander: “If you are doing it anyway, you might as well do it with joy.”

This is so important and valuable that it’s worth repeating. “If you are doing it anyway, you might as well do it with joy.” We are constantly choosing our thoughts, our feelings, our words, and our actions. You can choose to feel distressed or joyful about taking care of the things that you need to take care of. When you take action with zrizus, choose joyful zrizus.

-from Rabbi Zelig Pliskin’s book: “Taking Action” – page 60

Quoting: Serene Zrizus

Some people become overwhelmed when they feel they have too many things to do and they don’t have enough time to do them. This overwhelmed feeling causes them to move more slowly than they usually do. Their minds becomes unclear. It’s hard for them to focus and concentrate. Instead of becoming more efficient at what they have to do, they act way below their standard competency level.

What is the solution? Serene zrizus!

What does it mean to have serene zrizus? It means that you take action, and you do so with full speed ahead while remaining calm and tranquil inside. You move as fast as is appropriate for the specific situation and circumstance. But you have peace of mind.

You might not have previously associated zrizus with serenity, but now you can. Your mindset acknowledges that you will do everything that you have to do and that you will have an inner calm. Although you might move quickly, inwardly you are at ease.

A key benefit of having serene zrizus is that you think clearly. You think about what you need to do, and you remain calm as you take action.

-from Rabbi Zelig Pliskin’s book: “Taking Action” – pages 55-6

Quoting: Think Before Taking Action

Action will enable you to accomplish and achieve. But something must come before taking action: thinking.

Think first. Yes, think big and think bigger, but always think first.

Taking action without thinking will lead to many avoidable mistakes and errors. Taking action without thinking first will lead to unnecessary quarrels and arguments, hurt feelings, and misunderstandings.

Taking action without thinking will lead to wasting much time and energy.

Taking action without thinking might get you far, but it’s likely to get you far in the wrong direction.

When you spend time thinking about your options and about consequences, you will be able to learn from each experience to think even better and wiser next time.

-from Rabbi Zelig Pliskin’s book: “Taking Action” – pages 40-1

Quoting: Create a Taking Action Habit

Create the habit of taking action right away. To make anything a habit, you keep doing something many times. The wise person doesn’t wait until a new habit becomes a habit. He acts the way he would act if he already had the habit. And then automatically his actions become a habit.

-from Rabbi Zelig Pliskin’s book: “Taking Action” – page 38

Quoting: Believe You Can Become an Action Oriented Person

If you presently find it difficult to believe that you can become an action-oriented person, you will benefit greatly from a teacher, mentor, friend, or coach who believes in you and your abilities. Having someone you respect believe in you is inspiring and motivating. You will gain a stronger and deeper belief in yourself.

-from Rabbi Zelig Pliskin’s book: “Taking Action” – page 35

Quoting: Mastering the Habit of Taking Action

People who are lazy and habitually procrastinate lose out in all areas of their life. They ignore their health. They don’t take care of their financial obligations on time. They don’t study when they should study. They waste a lot of time. They tend to be late to things.

The antidote is to become a person who consistently takes action with joyful zrizus. You gain tremendously in all areas of your life when you make and reach goals, when you do what you say you will do, when you take care of things on time, and when others are counting on you. You gain spiritually and materially.

-from Rabbi Zelig Pliskin’s book: “Taking Action” – pages 30-1

Quoting: All Action is in the Present

Everything that you have ever done in the past, you did in a present moment. Everything that you will ever do in the future, you will only be able to do in a present moment.

All your thoughts are thought in a present moment. All your feelings are felt in a present moment. And everything you actually say or do is said or done in a present moment.

Since you live your whole life in the present, moment by moment, it is wise to consider the wise thing to say and do in the present moment, in the here and now of that moment. It is also wise to prepare the wise thing to say or do in the future.

Someone who tends not to have zrizus (alacrity) might be thinking about how challenging it is to have zrizus. It’s actually not difficult to have zrizus. Rather, it might appear difficult when you are not in a zrizus state, or when you are thinking about having future zrizus that you don’t now have. But all moments of zrizus are just present moments, and when you are in that present moment of zrizus, it isn’t difficult. Someone with a tendency to do things with zrizus will tend to look at zrizus as something he only needs to have one moment at a time.

-from Rabbi Zelig Pliskin”s book: “Taking Action” – pages 26-7

Movie Review of “Thor: Ragnarok”

thor-ragnarok

Promotional image for “Thor: Ragnarok” (2017)

I watched Thor: Ragnarok (2017) last week and loved it. It wasn’t the perfect film, but of the three “Thor” movies, it was clearly the best.

Things I Liked

I really liked the dynamic, both between Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo), and between Thor and Banner (although, in a way, it’s the same thing). I’m glad that Thor not only was able to hold his own against the Hulk, but actually beat him, that is until the Grandmaster (Jeff Goldblum) cheated by triggering Thor’s pain-inducing device.

They ended up being “odd couple” buddies, which brings up another point.

The two previous Thor films and just about any solo movie version of the Hulk have all been pretty blah. These are characters who have successfully carried their own comic book titles for decades. Why don’t they translate well to film?

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