Fighting Inertia

Taking initiative is not an easy thing to do. 

I say this from experience. Many times I've told myself "I'm going to write later," or "I'm going to finally clean my room this afternoon." But if you were to count up all the times I've said something like that, and compare them to all the times I've actually done it, well... the results wouldn't be flattering. 

Why is this the case? Why is it so hard to get up and do something of your own volition? I'm reminded of Newton's first law of motion, the law of inertia: an object at rest will stay at rest, unless an outside force acts upon it. In layman's terms, if you act like a couch potato, you're going to stay on the couch.

Inertia isn't just physical. If your mind is used to doing nothing but playing video games or reading books all the time, then that's what your mind is going to do. While there may be nothing wrong with playing video games or reading books—both activities can and often do lead to greater relaxation and knowledge—it's the excess of them that leads to problems; and, unfortunately, inertia means that we tend towards excess. What used to be a break from our work has turned into an escape from life; what used to be a harmless diversion has now become a crutch that keeps you stagnant. The activity that entertained you for a few minutes now takes hours and hours, and it prevents you from actual productivity. 

What can we do about this? Well, I only mentioned part of the law of inertia up above. An object at rest will stay at rest, and an object in motion will stay in motion, unless an outside force acts upon it. It's not just rest that we can get stuck in—it's motion, too. If we get going, we're going to keep going. And that momentum can build and build until you've forgotten your couch potato days entirely amid a flurry of activity that benefits the world. 

The good news here is that it doesn't take much to get us going. Instead of checking out for the day as soon as you get home from school, maybe clean your room. Make your bed, write that essay you've been putting off. Take out the trash. Study for the test you have next week before it becomes time to panic. Do something little that will benefit your life, and get into a habit of doing it—because an object in motion will stay in motion, and we don't always want to be at rest.

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