The Importance of Right Action and the Virtue of Tequila Shots

“Three! Two! One! Go!” In perfect unison, the six of us lick the salt from the backs of our hands and down our double shots of tequila. We give a gasp and a celebratory cheer, as we slam our fifth (?) round of shot glasses down on the bar. “Come with us, we’re going to a house party a few towns over!” the blonde says. We all stumble out of the bar and jump into a cab-van. I will my eyes to focus on the digital clock. It’s 2 am. I’m loving life.

Back up three hours: I’m laying on my hotel room bed in Provo, Utah, watching some B-grade movie about vampires. It’s my first night off work in weeks, and my first night in a town of over 500 people in months. It also happens to be Saturday night. Despite all this, I’m feeling very lazy, comfortable and uninspired.

I take a minute — on a commercial break — and think about my situation. How many times have I had a really great, memorable night of TV watching? How many adventures have I had sitting around, watching B-movies?

On the other hand, the last time I went to a bar in a mostly Mormon city alone, I had a crazy adventure, met some really great people and ended up sleeping in a public park with some other travelers.

I knew what I must do. I pulled myself off the comfortable hotel bed and dragged myself to “downtown” Provo. I genuinely did not want to go out.

On Center Street I case out a late night burger joint and quickly start talking with a couple of transported locals. We hang out for a while and they give me a walking tour to the two bars in town. As I internally debate whether buying a temporary membership plus paying cover might be worthwhile (the bars in Utah have strange laws about membership), two girls on their way in offer to sponsor me in on their membership. The rest — the tequila, the rockabilly band, the house party, and the ensuing hangover — is a bonus.

I suppose this is another one of those reminders to myself — this one on the importance of Right Action. Right Action (as I define it) is pushing yourself to do something you know you should do (write that term paper; do something interesting instead of watching tv; talk to that girl who is intimidatingly beautiful…), but normally may not do because of laziness, procrastination or that little bit of short term pain that you might be avoiding.

I had an amazing, memorable experience in Provo that night, and I wouldn’t have even had the chance if I followed old patterns of laziness and procrastination.

It’s kind of like the concept of inertia: an object in motion will stay in motion and an object at rest will stay at rest — unless acted upon by an outside force. Sometimes you need to be that outside force.

Below: the Arcade Fire in an elevator…

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