Do the work in front of you

niyataṃ kuru karma tvaṃ karma jyāyo hyakarmaṇaḥśarīrayātrāpi ca te na prasiddhyedakarmaṇaḥ

Do your appointed work. Action is better than inaction. Without action, you could not even sustain your body.

What it means

Krishna gives a direct instruction. Do the karma, the action, that is yours to do. Then he adds a humble, almost earthy reason. Even eating, washing and walking are action. Life itself depends on doing. Withdrawing from everything is not neutral. It quietly lets things fall apart.

The story

Arjuna wants to lay everything down. Krishna does not answer with philosophy alone. He reminds him of something every soldier knows. Even the body must be fed and rested. To live at all is to act.

In your life

After the funeral, Tom cannot face the week. His sister does not lecture him. She hands him a list with three small things: shower, make soup, water the plants. Start with the first one.