"Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies." - Mother Teresa

Image provided by Andy Tindor

What is the Essential Act?

The Essential Act counteracts feelings of powerlessness and is simply, an action that must be done. The phrase, “must be done” has all of the meanings implied. Like most things in Opposite Action, Essential Acts are defined by the individual, and may involve the expression of ideas, innate skills or talents. For instance, it might be an Essential Act for someone to revisit a place from their past, to take a wilderness survival skills test, to complete a course of study or to locate an out of touch friend. These acts are intensely personal and are high in meaning for the individual. People performing this type of Essential Act can be described as “living their dream”, “driven” or “passionate” about chosen goals. These Essential Acts are internally motivated by the desire for self-actualization or other emotional human needs.

Another class of Essential Acts may be more externally motivated, or characterized by service to others. These Essential Acts include obtaining the basics needed to support human life and they improve or maintain wellbeing in our homes or communities. Grocery shopping, food preparation, laundry, paying bills, changing a baby’s diaper, taking a disabled person to the bathroom, or taking out the trash are tasks that must be done and so are Essential Acts. These acts are motivated by the more basic human needs for food, shelter or security and tend to involve the environment or the lives of others.

While the two types seem very different in that the first class involves self-actualization and freedom of choice, while the second class may imply limited choice with a focus on basic survival, the seniors seem to report that successfully completing both types of acts can increase overall life satisfaction. In their view, achieving meaningful goals on the basic need level can have great meaning, because permanent, positive character traits can be developed. This is important and hopeful because there are so many of us focused on the basic needs of life.